Here is Garden
by x20 Vision
Summary: Garden High is an all boys school, tucked deep in the pleasant forests on Balamb island. Squall, a student, leads a very boring life because of this, but what happens when the school suddenly becomes coed? Chapter 8 is up!
1. Work With a Frown, Relax With a Smile

Summary: Garden High is an all boys school, tucked deep in the pleasant forests on Balamb island. Squall, a student, leads a very boring life because of this, but what happens when the school suddenly becomes co-ed!? 

**~* Here Is Garden *~**

_~ Chapter ONE: Relax With A Smile, Work With A Frown ~_

_***************************************************_

_"Oh my Squall... You're so masculine and strong!" A girl exclaimed with a sweet and tender voice as she lightly caressed his biceps with her finger tips. "You must work out all the time..." She said into his ear, her soft breath causing him to smile ear to ear. _

_"All the time..." He told her. She backed up a little, giving Squall a very clear shot of her cleavage right down her shirt. He frowned as the size was not to his liking. _

_"You do not like them?" She asked delicately, a genuinely concerned look on her face. Squall nodded. "Then I'll change things around for you... would you like that?" She asked as she grabbed her breasts tenderly. Squall nodded viciously, almost like he was seizureing. Suddenly, her breasts grew two times their size, stretching the very boundaries of her top. Squall smiled pleasantly as the view down her shirt was now as easy as spotting the grand canyon. _

_"Oh yeah..." He whispered to himself, pleased, as he placed his arms behind his head. _

_"SQUALL! Wake up you dip shit!" The women suddenly screamed, with a very deep and husky voice. _

Squall shot up from his sleeping position and whipped his head around to find the disturbance. He was on the bus to school, shadows of the trees shown down on the bus as it drove along. The trees were not far between as this particular part of the bus trip was set in just one of the many pleasant forests. 

"You always fall asleep on the bus. It's called night... it's when you sleep!" A deep voice scolded as it took a seat next to him. Squall looked to find a blonde spiky haired teenager sit down next to him, it was Zell, his friend. 

"I always sleep at night, and I always sleep on the bus!" Squall told him as he rested his head against the cool pane of the window. "Haven't you noticed that routine by now?" He asked, his eyes drifting to Zell. 

"I've always noticed, you're right. I just called it into question now." Zell pointed out cheerfully. 

"Whatever." Squall said coolly. "Anyways, ready for the last day of finals?" He asked, pulling his head from the window to turn to his friend. 

"Of course!" Zell exclaimed with delight. "I have Biology which happens to be my best class, and math, which happens to be my worst." He said with a smile. "I studied like hell for math obviously." He said. 

"I figured as much. I have Gym, best class ever, and cooking." Squall said with a bright smile, happy his classes were stupidly easy. 

"You're such a lucky a son of a bitch..." Zell cursed with a distasteful frown on his face. 

"Hey..." Squall began, looking around the bus. The bus was only half full which happened to be no surprise as the school was small and all boys. "Where's Irvine?" He asked, still looking finding no man with a cowboy hat on. 

"He's daydreaming..." Zell told him. ".. in that seat I think." Zell pointed to a seat near the back, sitting up on his knees and turning around in the seat. 

"HEY!!" The bus driver screamed. She was an old fat bitch, no more need be said. "Sit down you damn hooligan!" She screamed again. Zell immediately sat down. 

"Damn bitch..." Zell cursed as his hold on his bag tightened in anger. "She needs to drown in her own shit." He said malevolently. 

"Only two more years of her and than it's off to college!" Squall said with an optimistic smile. 

"I guess... but I don't wanna drive myself. I'm to lazy..." Whined Zell impatiently. Squall rolled his eyes as the bus slowly came to a stop in front of their school. 

They all stepped off the bus and headed for their school for the day. It was quite pretty, but none of them paid attention. It was all read brick with ivy crawling all over the walls. Trees surrounded it almost as if it was meant to be a secret fortress or something. The sun was having trouble sneaking through the trees that blocked its path and thus the ground was littered with shadows of leaves and the side of the building. The school was four floors high and was quite wide. 

The two entered the school and looked about. The bottom floor was all lockers and tended to be crowded during key points of the day. 

"I don't need to go to my locker. You?" Zell asked, looking to Squall. 

"Of course not!" Squall exclaimed. "I didn't even bring my back pack." He told him with a smile.

"You lucky piece of shit." Zell cursed to him. 

"Tut tut now!" An older sounding voice said behind them. "We don't want that kind of language at our school, especially with our new 'guests' arriving tomorrow." The principal, Cid Kramer, told them with a smile as he patted them on the shoulder. 

"Yes, sir." They both said in unison. 

"That's good. I'll be off now! Just watch your mouth from now on! Ahehe." He said with a little laugh as he waved his good byes. They waved back reluctantly. They turned to each other once they were tired of waving. 

"Guests?" Zell questioned. 

"Probably someone from the 'board' or some SHIT like that..." Squall said, severely emphasizing his curse word. Everyone looked to him curiously and he shooed their looks away with a flick of his hand. 

"Or what if its a new student? Or a teacher?" Zell suggested. 

"Well, whatever the reason, I'm not going to stop swearing! That's my only freedom. Shit, fuck, piss, damn!" Squall yelled out as he trotted happily towards his gym class. 

*

Squall walked out in his gym uniform, a white shirt and black, light, shorts. Irvine was next to him in the same attire. 

"Dude. I hear there's going to be something special happening tomorrow." Irvine said, excited as he placed his hands on his hips. 

"Yeah, Cid told me to stop swearing because of people coming tomorrow." Squall told him as they headed out the of their locker rooms and into the outside. It was a wonderful sunny morning and the crisp air was warm and pleasant. "We're going to the track, right?" He asked, lightly bringing his finger up to the track that encircled the football field. Irvine nodded his head and they walked for it. It was down a short, paved road that was connected to a hill side. 

"He said for you to stop swearing?" Irvine exclaimed, bringing the main topic back around. 

"Yeah!" Squall exclaimed, still amazed himself. 

"But-But you CAN'T stop swearing!" Irvine exclaimed as they approached the track. 

"Well, I'm not going to stop just because he told me to." He said to his friend with a sly smirk. "And besides... considering it's the end of the semester and all I can imagine that's going to happen tomorrow is two more new exchange students or something of the sort." He continued as they stepped onto the dirt track. 

"Probably... but still... I wish something REALLY exciting would happen tomorrow." Irvine hoped with a little smile on his face as he placed his hands together as if in prayer. 

"This is Garden High. Nothing exciting happens here..." Squall told him pessimistically as he shook his head in sadness as he took a seat on the football field. The grass was warm and slightly damp but he didn't care. As time passed, more boys entered the track and football area. 

"All right! All right!" A deep voice called out. They all looked up to where the deep voice had come from, it was their teacher/coach, Mr. Yamato. "Shut up and sit down by where Squall and Irvine are." Mr. Yamato commanded with a point of his finger to Squall. The boys sat near Squall as they were told and Yamato walked up to them. "I'm sure you've all heard by now that there's going to be a big 'surprise' tomorrow." He began. Irvine rubbed his hands together impatiently and Yamato continued. "Well, I asked you to take a seat because I'm here to tell you what this 'surprise' is." He continued, paused and let the boys whisper amongst themselves. They all did except Squall and Irvine. Squall because he didn't care and Irvine because he was so excited. "Shut up!" He commanded when the whispering didn't stop after awhile. It immediately stopped and he continued. "... the surprise is..." He let his final statement hang for a moment as he looked all over all the boys, their faces expectant and excited. Irvine was practically foaming at the mouth. Squall was about to fall asleep. "... this school is going co-ed starting tomorrow." He finished, he quickly turned to the boys, waiting for their expressions. They just starred at him, utter confusion on their faces. "... alright... we try this again. This school, starting tomorrow, will now have girls and boys." He said correcting himself just for their stupidity. 

"OH MY GOD!!!!" Irvine screamed, smiling ear to ear as he stood crying he was so happy. All the boys cheered with delight, finally getting their taste of women. Squall just sat there in utter shock. He didn't know what to say. He was happy, of course, but at the same time, some what frustrated. 

"Wait a sec... this is a private school for boys only." Squall stated to the coach. The rest of the boys turned to him, curious to why he was sounded so upset. "My parents paid for an all boys school. Are they not going to be notified?" He asked as he stepped for Mr. Yamato. 

"Your parents have been notified for the past 6 months. We mailed them a letter, and in that letter it specifically said that they are not allowed to tell their child." Yamato told him sternly, getting defensive because of Squall's advances towards him. Squall stopped in his tracks and sighed and turned back around to everyone else, who was staring at him curiously. He walked to Irvine who patted him on the back with a smile. "Anyways..." Mr. Yamato began again. "... today is a free day, meaning you go change again and swim, play baseball or just about anything else Gym related. You can even jump rope." Yamato exclaimed to them all. All the boys cheered, happy it was a free day and that girls were finally coming to their school. 

Squall and Irvine turned to each other with smiles and they ran off towards the locker room along with some other boys. 

They exited the locker room with trunks, sandals and towel slung casually over their shoulders. They were without shirts and with sunglasses. They walked towards the pool that was surrounded by a gate, prohibiting non-student body people from entering. They entered through a side gate with their special, handy dandy keys. 

Squall walked slowly and comfortably to pool chair and kicked his sandals off and laid his towel on the top of the reclining chair. He whipped his sunglasses off with a flick of his head, causing his hair to toss around a bit and he could of sworn he heard a couple of high pitched giggles coming from behind him, but ignored it. 

Irvine was more direct on entering the pool. He tossed his towel on the ground, kicked his sandals off in whatever direction his feet were facing meaning that one landed in the pool and the other smacked Squall in the face. He tossed his sunglasses off his face, causing them to crash to the ground but they did not break. 

The same giggles erupted from behind Squall once more and he tossed his head behind him to see the people who were laughing. He found no one. He shrugged it off and jumped into the pool. Squall rose from the depths of the pool to come up to the edge of the pool. He placed his elbows on the edge of the pool, and let himself hang there, the cemented edge of the pool supporting his back. 

"You excited about the chicks coming?" Irvine asked as he came swimming up to him. He placed himself in the same position as Squall and looked straight ahead. 

"Meh..." He answered, his sentence hanging on his breath. "It really makes no difference." He told him with a slight shrug. "What about you?" Squall asked, looking to him. Irvine pulled himself out of the water and sat on the edge of the pool, his legs immersed in the pool. His body was dripping wet and shimmering from the sun light. His hair, which was a tad bit shorter than usual, was wet through and through and shimmered just like his body. More small giggles erupted from behind them. 

"You did just hear that, right?" Irvine asked, a tad bit worried for his sanity as he saw no one behind him. 

"Yeah... I just heard it awhile ago. It's not just you." Squall reassured his friend. Irvine sighed with relief. 

"If we just ignore it... it'll stop, right?" Irvine suggested with a little whisper. Squall nodded. 

"So..." Squall began, finding where their topic left at it. "Are you excited about a co-ed school?" He asked, looking up to Irvine. 

"Hell yeah!" Irvine exclaimed, happy that Squall had finally asked him. "I'm going to flirt with everyone until my heart can't take it anymore!" He screamed with delight, forgetting all about the previous paranoid thoughts he had. "Who knows... I might even date a few." He said with a smile. 

"Whatever..." Squall said coolly as he shook his head in distaste.

"You're not gonna go out on any dates!?" Irvine exclaimed, surprised at him. 

"Why would I?" He asked. "I'm not very 'smooth' with the ladies. Remember last time you took me to that party?" Squall asked, becoming cross just thinking about it. 

_**"So..." Squall began to a girl who was sitting on the couch. "How often do you go to the bathroom?" He asked. She picked up a salt shaker, opened it and sprayed it in his eyes and left. **_

"Okay... well that was just dumb." Irvine reminded him. 

"Exactly... I'm stupid like that around girls." He reiterrated. 

"I don't want to see you in class. Jeez... Your grades could suffer because of that!" Irvine exclaimed.

"Hmm... This might be veering on the subject but I wonder why Principal Kramer suddenly admitted girls into this school." Squall wondered, rubbing his chin in thought. 

"Probably for financial reasons. The school might be running low on profits and they need another way of raking in the dough. I mean... this school has a far above average grade point average so I'm sure girls want to attend." Irvine explained. Squall was impressed with his deep and constructive thoughts and was about to compliment him until he said. "... Or Kramer just wants some younger action, if you know what I mean?" He asked, poking him lightly in the head with his elbow. Squall swatted his elbow away and sighed. 

"You know... reverting back to our other topic..." Squall began.

"You mean about the girls n'shit?" He asked.

"Yeah... I would like to start a relationship." Squall stated. 

"Really?" Irvine exclaimed, proud of his friend. 

"Yeah... If she's really cute... great personality, you know, funny, caring and serious to a point." Squall explained with a cute little smile on his face as if in total bliss. 

"Yeah... me too." Irvine said with a little smile as he lied down, his feet still in the water. He bent his head back and found two girl's heads poking out behind a tree. "WHAT THE!?" Irvine practically screamed as he quickly pulled himself from the water.

"What?" Squall asked, turning to him, as he turned he also spotted the horrified girls. "Hey!" He called, getting out of the pool. One was blonde and the other had brunette hair that was curly. 

"Oh shit!" The curly haired one cursed as they began to run away. 

"Wait a sec!" Irvine called, pressing himself to the gate. They stopped, reluctantly, and turned to him. "Are you two of the new girls coming to our school?" He asked, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Yeah!" The curly haired one called back and began to run away but the blonde one stayed. 

"Hey!" The blonde one called, pointing to Squall. "Selphie, the girl running away, thinks you're cute!" She exclaimed. Squall blushed and smiled delightfully. 

"Quistis, you bitch!" Selphie exclaimed, smacking Quistis on the shoulder, hard as she ran back to her. "Yeah... well Quistis likes it doggy style!" Selphie screamed to them.

"UGH!" Quistis exclaimed, disgusted. Irvine and Squall just gave each other curious looks. "Well.. Selphie said she was going to go home and masturbate to the guy with the short brunette hair. She said she wants to pinch your ass!" She yelled to Squall. His blush only increased. 

"Quistis wants to give a blow job to the one with the long hair!" Selphie screamed. The two girls were quiet for a bit then started laughing like idiots and ran off, leaving Squall and Irvine wondering. Irvine dove for a nearby pen, dried his hand and wrote down the name 'Quistis'.

"Gotta remember..." Irvine whispered as he kissed the name lightly. 

'Selphie...' Squall thought pleasantly as he tapped his cheek lightly with his finger. 

"God Squall! They were SO hot!" Irvine exclaimed, cupping his cheeks with his hands delightfully. Squall nodded, the smile from before still hanging on his face as he watched the two run away from them. "There can be no one hotter!" He proclaimed, his arm raising triumphantly. Squall just continued to nod, lost in his own world. 

'Maybe dating isn't such a bad idea...' Squall thought positively, snapping back into reality as he heard Irvine jump into the pool. "I CAN'T WAIT FOR TOMORROW!!" Squall screamed as loud as he could to the heavens. The boys at the pool looked at him curiously but shrugged it off and continued whatever they were doing. Squall jumped into the pool in cannon ball formation. 

*

"Quistis... Quistis...." Irvine repeated over and over, wanting not to forget the girls name as they were about to enter school with all their female peers. 

"I'm... so... excited..." Zell said in ragged breaths. He bit his lip hard and his hands clenched with excitement. Squall looked at him curiously. While yes, this was an exciting event, there was no need to go insane over it. 

'Gotta act cool for Selphie...' Squall stated silently as he put a tiny bit more emphasis in his walk. They entered the double of the school and all the girls were on one side of the locker hall, and all the boys were on the other. It was loud and very talkative. The two sexes mingled pleasantly. Things were going well in Garden High. Squall looked about at all the happy talking people. 

"QUISTIS!" Irvine screamed as he saw his beautiful obsession standing near a locker talking with Selphie. Squall's smile grew ever bigger as he saw her. They walked towards them and they waved to the three. 

"Who's blondy?" Quistis asked, pointing to Zell with a curious eye. 

"This is Zell Dincht." Irvine said with a smile as he pushed him forward towards them. He smiled like an idiot, and the two girls shared strange glances. 

"He comes off weird, but he's real nice." Squall insisted, pulling Zell back from them. 

"I do not come off weird!" Zell protested. Squall rolled his eyes and the two girls giggled their happy giggle. 

"Every guy here is so cute..." Selphie said, biting her thumb with an evil smirk on her face. 

"I know... so many options!" Quistis stated as she jumped for joy. Irvine's face sunk to the floor at the chances of him getting her were slim now. Squall and Zell just gave them strange looks.

"Oh sorry... we came from an all girls school so we've been men deprived for awhile." Selphie explained. The three nodded, Irvine more solemnly than the others. 

"Oh! And by the way..." Quistis began as she began to walk for the door. "We have another friend... so if one of you don't end up with us two, you have her to go for!" Quistis stated. Selphie and her giggled. 

"Is she pretty???" Zell questioned in a hurried manner. The two girls nodded vigorously. 

"VERY pretty!" They both exclaimed. Suddenly, as if on cue one of the double doors opened and in stepped a girl with raven black hair that went down a little bit past her shoulders. Her school uniform was perfect for her and the pink, flowered, clips in her hair were a nice touch as well. She walked for Quistis and Selphie. Irvine's, Squall's and Zell's mouth dropped to the floor. 

"Hi guys." The girl greeted with a little wave as she stepped next to Quistis. 

"Hey Rinoa." They greeted with a tiny wave. Rinoa averted her eyes to the three gawking men. 

"And they are?" She asked with a tiny smile as she pointed to them with a finger. 

"The blonde one is Zell, the guy with short brunette hair is Squall, and the one with long hair is Irvine." Selphie explained, pointing to each as she went through them. 

"Hello!" Squall greeted, immediately jumping forward and shaking her hand. "I'm Squall Leonhart!" He continued. He knew she already knew his name but wanted to flesh things out a bit. "If you need any help finding you way around campus, just ask me!" He insisted. 

"Wow..." Rinoa said, almost hypnotically. "You really are cute... Selphie was right!" She continued, looking back at Selphie, then to Squall again. He immediately flushed at the comment. "Oh... sorry. That was kind of weird, wasn't it?" She asked with a smile. 

"Oh my fairest Rinoa," Zell began as he bent down on one knee and kissed her hand delicately. She blushed furiously. "What class dost thou have nexteth?" He asked. She laughed and pulled out her class schedule as Zell stood. Squall scowled at Zell, but he tried to ignore the death looks. 

"I have math first." Rinoa answered as she read her schedule. She looked up to Zell who had a frown on his face. "Don't frown! Smile. Frowning takes 26 muscles while smiling takes 6... I think." She said with a smile. Zell sighed heavily and he was pushed aside by Squall. 

"I have math first. What room? I'll take you there." Squall suggested, coming around next to Rinoa to try and see her schedule. She held it out a bit for him to read. 

"Room 210." She said, pointing to the room number on her schedule. 

"Really? Same with me!" He exclaimed with a smile on his face. 

"Perfect! A friendly face." She said with a smile. 

"Whoo whoo!" Selphie hooted. Rinoa giggled pleasantly. 

*

"I think I'm gonna like that class!" Rinoa admitted as Squall and her exited the classroom. 

"I'm glad. It's always good to start out with a class you like." he pointed out with a bright smile. 

"So true." She agreed. "I have gym next. Please say you have gym next." Rinoa pleaded. 

"Nope, sorry." He said, visibly saddened at her disappointment. 

"Damn... I hope I know someone in that class." She said hopefully. "What class do you have next?" She asked.

"Zell's in that Gym class, but anyways... I have drama." He answered, pointing towards the direction of the drama room. She gasped, as if it was bad. "What?" Squall asked instantly. 

"There is this total bitch in that class, her name is Yuki." Rinoa warned, dead serious. Squall nodded.

"I'll stay away from her." He told her, easing her slightly. "Oh, by the way. You'll probably be swimming today in Gym. If Zell asks you to play Marco Polo, don't. He'll try to grab your ass under water." Squall warned. 

"Oh my!" Rinoa exclaimed with surprise. "I'll watch out for him." She said with a little wink. "Thanks. See you at lunch, yes?" She asked with pleading eyes. 

"Uhh... sure." He said, not knowing how to respond to those eyes. "We'd love it if you sat with us." He said with a smile. She gave him a bright smile and gave him a bear hug as best she could. 

"My first guy friend!" She said, happy. She released him and ran off to the Gym. "Bye! See yah!" She called back behind her. Squall waved deliriously back at her. She enchanted him with some unknown power, but whatever it was, Squall didn't mind in the least....

***********

A/n: Here's the first chapter! I love Squall when he is OOC. That's why I made him like that. This is year round school as well and that's why their second semester begins in the summer. I have a lot of high hopes for this story... but they probably won't be achieved... LOL. I'm also working on the next chapter of When the Sky is High. That story is becoming a bit hard to write... I'm trying to incorporate more squinoa into the story but what I always end up with is none what so ever. I'm trying to 'spice things up' in their relationship but that proves even harder... the romance and the plot feel so... so... different, they don't tie in. By means of normal plot, everything is perfect... stupid squinoa! oh well. I'll make it work. 

Next Chapter: _Friend to Enemy to Friend and Back Again...  
_In the next chapter... Squall finally meets the very busty Yuki and he is suddenly wrapped up in a game of lies... The existence of his thoughts and ideas about the girls come into question and he is forced to make a choice, which lie/truth he should believe in...   
(Sounds dramatic... but it's not that dramatic!)

Exit Stage Left

P.S. This story isn't necessarily Squinoa. But I focus on them because they're the main characters. The occasional chapter will drift onto the other friends... and enemies. Their stories will mingle with Squall and Rinny's. 


	2. Friend to Enemy to Friend and Back Again

Chapter TWO: Friend to Enemy to Friend and Back Again...

**EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!!!!!!**: All right... lets get this straight. The plot? There's none! It's a collection of stories about budding romances in a high school where boys have no idea what to do with girls and girls have no idea what to do with boys! That's it. Can't figure 'the plot' (or setting, as I like to call it) out? Read the summary... alot... very self explanatory. There isn't some evil conspiracy behind the fact that girls are admitted! It doesn't have to make sense! I just wanted to make a cute romance story! That's all... The thing about the parents not telling their kids makes no sense WHAT-SO-EVER!! I just wanted to show their feelings about girls in the rawest form possible, surprise! It's not complicated! Thank you. You can all read now. Wait... think of the plot as 'Complicated budding romances'... perfect. Happy now? There's your plot! 

*******************

Squall entered his drama class just as the bell sounded. He sighed with relief and walked to an empty chair. There were no desks in the room, this room was used for drama and drama alone, they had no need for desks... except for the occasional prop. As he took his seat, he scanned the room looking at all the students. It was a surprisingly small class. Only 16 people. 

"Alright Performers." The teacher began from the front of the room. "From this day forward there will be no students in this classroom." She said, it sounded odd but she was obviously going somewhere with it. 

"No students!? Sweet! Then we can leave!?" Someone across the room exclaimed. Squall looked towards the voice and found Seifer, the most annoying person on campus. 

"Ah, shit...." Squall cursed under his breath as he put his hand to his forehead. A tiny, prissy, giggle began next to Seifer. Squall looked to the curious sound and found. A girl with some very large... assets. Her skin was perfectly tanned and her hair, black. She was probably the hottest person on campus and Squall secretly hoped that she wasn't the infamous Yuki. 

"Seifer..." The teacher began walking to him. "Sit the hell down and shut the FUCK up!" She screamed. The class became wide eyed as Seifer slowly took his seat, scared and horrified. "If you blurt out another one of your stupid comments, you're leaving this class." She warned. Seifer nodded slowly and steadily and the teacher diverted her attention back to the matter at hand. "As I was saying. You're not going to be students in this class... you'll be referred to as performers." She told them all. She looked to the people in her class, each one individually. "For today's activity you shall impersonating another person in this class. If you don't know anyone then please raise your hand." No one rose their hand. "Good. Now lets begin. Squall..." She began, looking to him.

"Yes?" He said standing, ready. 

"You're first, because I know your name. Come up here and whisper to me the person your imitating and we'll have the class guess." Squall nodded.

"Seifer." He whispered in her ear. She laughed and nodded, allowing him. Squall cleared his throat and began. "Blah blah, jibber jabber, ramble ramble, mindless jargon!" He said with a rude and stuck up tone and exaggerated arm motions. The class looked at each other, confused and Seifer just rolled his eyes and smiled, knowing Squall had failed at whatever he was doing. 

"Seifer?" A female student questioned. The class burst out into laughter, except Seifer who snarled at Squall who just curtsied with his jacket (that's right, curtsied).

"That was excellent, Squall." The teacher congratulated. "And extra credit points for the answer." She said, nodding to the girl who answered. Squall took a seat with a smug smile and looked across the room where Seifer was fuming... but... the girl next to him was smiling at him pleasantly. Squall just strangely smiled back and waved. She giggled and waved back. 

Seifer's hand shot up, ready to go next. 

"Ah dammit... fine... come up Seifer." Seifer stood and walked to the front while giving Squall an evil smirk. He whispered his answer into the teachers ear and Squall sighed impatiently. 

"Duh duh, I give bad impressions and no one likes me!" Seifer said like an idiot. The class looked at each other, totally bewildered. 

"Uhhh.. you?" Squall answered with a brutal smile. The class erupted with laughter. Seifer's face grew red with rage, he raced to Squall and grabbed him by the collar. 

"Don't fuck with me you little shit. Remember your place." He whispered venomously. Squall just gave him a cold stare and spit on Seifer's shirt. "Dip shit." Seifer whispered as he pushed Squall against the back of the chair, causing him to fall backwards. The gorgeous girl next to Seifer dashed over to Squall's aid as the class gasped at the incident. 

"Seifer!" The teacher scolded. "See me after class!" She said, her words, vicious as he walked back to his seat nonchalantly. 

"Oh, are you okay!?" The girl asked, very worried. Squall sat up with the 'help' of her. 

"Yeah. I'm fine." He answered with a smile. His breath caught in his lungs as he took in her face. She was even more gorgeous up close. Everything about her just radiated purity, kindness and beauty. 

"Are you sure? Seifer can be pretty tough sometimes." She said, once again helping him up as if he was seriously wounded. 

"I can take him." Squall assured her as he bent down to pick his chair up. She giggled lightly and Squall smiled as the sweet melody rang through his head. 

"I'm Yuki Carter." Yuki greeted as she extended a hand to greet him. Squall's smile fell as the name 'Yuki' was uttered. He shook her hand limply, still fascinated on the fact that his greatest fear was realized. After a brief moment of silence Yuki took a seat next to him and asked: "What's your name?"

"Squall." He answered, showing no emotion. He took Rinoa's advise. She had known Yuki longer then he had. 

"Have a last name?" She asked him with a giggle. He didn't answer. Her face immediately transformed itself into a scowl. "What has she told you?" She asked.

"What?" He asked irritated. He was trying to be as rude as possible to get her to go away.

"Rinoa. I know you've talked to her. What did she say about me?" She asked, moving closer to him. He could feel her breasts rubbing against his shoulder tenderly. He couldn't tell if she was doing this purposely but it was working. Her little game of 'I give you what you want, and you give me what I want' was working, and working well. Squall could feel himself breaking down. 

"She..." He tried to resist, but lost the will to and gave in. "She said that I should stay away from you and that you were a total bitch." He answered. 

"Don't listen to her. She's an awful person. She tries to date boys, milk them for all they're worth, have sex with them, then leave them heartbroken." She said. Squall was shocked. He couldn't imagine such a pure and innocent soul like Rinoa's would be capable of such things. "Stay away from her. You can trust me." Yuki insisted as she moved back to the seat next to Seifer and they whispered for a bit. 

'Shit...' Squall thought, totally confused on what was going on...

*

"I don't believe that for one second!" Irvine exclaimed after school as they stood next to their lockers. Squall had just revealed the information given to him by Yuki and Rinoa. 

"Rinoa can't be a total slut and Yuki can't be a total bitch!" Zell insisted. 

"You never know." Squall said with a frown. 

"I can't believe you're believing these silly rumors." Irvine said with distaste as he shook his head. "I'm sure they're both perfect women. Go with Yuki though... just in case." He finished cautiously. 

"You're believing these stupid rumors to!? I can't believe you two." Zell exclaimed ashamed. 

"Shut up! Both of you!" Squall demanded with a strong voice. It was obvious he was irritated and tired. They both nodded quietly. 

"So... Yuki's boobs were huge?" Irvine asked, diverting the topic.

"Oh hell yeah!" Squall said with a sudden smile. "I'm gonna go after her. She's so damn hot." He said with a serene smile. 

"Hopefully she's nice." Zell said with a shrug. 

"Who cares." Irvine said with a laugh...

*

"I can't help but get the feeling that Squall is avoiding me." Rinoa began. The three friends were sitting up on the roof in a little pocket of shade.

"You're being paranoid." Quistis insisted. 

"Yeah. He's probably just shy. I bet he likes you." Selphie said with a smile.

"No... I'd think he'd make that a little bit more obvious. I bet Yuki told him something." Rinoa said, scratching her chin with thought. 

"Oh geez... bringing her into this." Selphie said sadly as she shook her head with distaste. 

"She's in the same class as him and you all know how uhh... 'close' she gets to people." Rinoa explained, trying to back her point. 

"That's true..." Quistis said. She thought for a moment as the three friends were left with silence. "Why don't you go ask Squall? It can't do any harm." She advised thoughtfully. 

"He probably won't talk to me after the things Yuki said about me." Rinoa mumbled, not helping the situation. 

"That would be true if you hadn't said anything bad about Yuki." Quistis explained with a smile. Rinoa gave her a confused look, but it was one full of hope. "He's probably debating with himself who's right... and until he finds someone guilty, you're both innocent. This is your chance to tell him she really is a stupid bitch and that you're not whatever Yuki said you are, if she said anything at all." She explained. 

"Good thinking Quisty!" Rinoa exclaimed with a bright smile. She stood with haste and snatched up her belongings and shot down the stairs. She I had no idea where he would be, but she wanted to find him before Yuki did. Playing off Quistis's advise meant that she had to act fast. Whoever could get to Squall first had the upper hand in this game. 

She ran down the steps to the first floor, hoping she would find him where she found him this morning. She looked down the hall and found him... but not alone. Yuki was there, chatting with him with flirting gestures like pokes in the arm, etc. His smile was bright, it was all to obvious he was happy. Rinoa was disgusted, but hid it as she decided to approach them, a stoic look on her face. She wanted to look strong if Yuki had said something about her but she wanted to look normal if she hadn't. Yuki was unpredictable like that. 

As Rinoa stepped ever closer, she noticed that her left breast was smashed against the locker, causing both to press together to make one massive cleavage shot. Rinoa grimaced at the site, but kept her cool. 

"Hi Squall." She greeted with a pleasant smile, staring straight at him. 

"Hey." He greeted lamely with a little smile. Rinoa cursed herself mentally for not getting here fast enough. Yuki had got to him. Rinoa kept staring at Squall even as he turned away. She sighed heavily. 

"Hey watch out!" Someone cried in front of her. She was so caught up in thought, she didn't even notice someone called to her. 

"Rinoa!" Squall yelled. She snapped back into reality just as someone big crashed into her. She fell backwards and onto her butt. 

"OW!" She cried as she rubbed her behind tenderly. "That hurt." She murmured. She looked up to see who was at fault and found Seifer looming above her. She glared at him. "You probably hit me down to see up my skirt." She suspected with a grim look as she stood, dusting herself off. 

"I'd never do that!" Seifer insisted, putting on the innocent act a bit to strongly. "Not to you Fairest Rinoa." He cooed as he stepped closer to her. His body surged of masculinity, something Rinoa had been craving for a long time since their brake up. She didn't move as their hands touched delicately. Seifer pushed himself forward a bit, but Rinoa quickly became aware of his advances. 

"You won't play me again." She whispered menacingly to him, jabbing a finger, hard, into his stomach. 

"You two've met?" Yuki asked as she pushed herself closer to Squall, who only seemed to welcome the advance. 

"Unfortunately." Rinoa said as she took a step away from Seifer. 

"We dated for a bit." Seifer answered appropriately as he crossed his arms. 

"You two should get back together. You're so cute together." Yuki said with a cute little smile to Seifer, but when she turned to Rinoa her face contorted into an evil smirk that could kill any normal person. Rinoa wasn't a normal person though. She had evolved to take Yuki's evil tricks and twist them around to her delight.... but that side of her wasn't really evoking her this time though. 

"I don't think so. But I do believe Kid Rock would be quite taken with you if you were to just get another one of those boob jobs you were talking about. Pamela Anderson would have nothing on you." Rinoa said maliciously, wiping that smirk off Yuki's face instantly. 

Yuki licked her lips, ready for a real killer but only came out with: "You do!" She said maliciously. Rinoa just gave her a confused look. The three eyed Yuki strangely. She just huffed and stomped off, out the entrance. 

"Damn..." Seifer whispered. "Won't piss you off." He said with a little smile, trying to lighten the mood. Rinoa slammed her foot down on his and he wailed in pain. 

"There you are Mr. Almasy!" The art teacher exclaimed, wheezing and panting. "You won't get away this time!" 

"Oh shit!" Seifer exclaimed and he dashed away, the teacher slowly trailing behind. Rinoa turned to Squall who was looking towards his locker, avoiding eye contact. 

"Squall." She began. He didn't make eye contact, but she could tell his attention was on her. "I can tell she said something nasty about me." She said. 

"Sorta." He lamely answered. 

"What did she say this time? That I was in cohorts with a jewel robbery and that I seduced men so I could castrate them then steal their money?" She questioned. "Cause that's the only lie she has left to play." She explained. 

"I know what you are." He told her. 

"Oh no... she said I was a dirty slut and that I'm a heartbreaker?" She asked. 

"She also said that you 'Milk them for all their worth'!" Squall exclaimed, thinking that would be the real killer to her conscious. Rinoa just stood there, trying to suppress a smile. 

"Like... financially?" She asked as she bit her lip from laughing. 

"Yeah." He said, disgusted, thinking he was still punching her conscious. That set her over the edge, she began laughing out loud as she leaned against the lockers for support. 

"What?" He asked, totally confused. 

"I must be really bad at sex and dating because I'm basically poor!" She explained. "That lie is totally insane! That kind of stuff only happens in B Movie drama films!" She said as she began laughing. 

"I guess that is kind of weird..." Squall considered. 

"I can assure you of one thing though..." She said with a smile. "We're both totally normal girls having a totally normal fight." She said with a smile. "Don't believe what we say about the other person... it's gonna be a lie." She told him. "You don't have to make a choice on who to believe. You can believe none of us." She reminded him. "I'll promise to stop making up horrid stories about her... for your sake." She promised with a healthy smile as she saluted. He smiled at her. 

"How do you get home? Walk, bus, carpool?" He asked, wanting to end her first day at Garden High on a good note. 

"I walk. How do you get home?" She asked, knowing this was going somewhere. 

"I walk now..." He told her as he pushed a bus ticket into the very pit of his pocket. 

"What do you mean, 'now'?" She asked as they walked for the door. 

"I need the exercise." He told her, not really answering her question. 

"I won't argue." She told him with a smile. They pushed the doors open and the sunlight beamed down on them. Rinoa's light school uniform waved lightly with the winds playful dance. 

"You like it here so far?" Squall asked her. 

"I love it! So many new people, so many people to meet, just so much better!" She said with a smile as she skipped around in circles.... 

* 

"I think Rinoa ditched us." Selphie said with a pout as they looked around outside the school for her. 

"I hope everything went okay with that whole Yuki problem." Quistis hoped as she shielded her eyes from the sun's raise above her. 

"I'm sure it went off without a hitch..." She reassured her friend. 

"Hey..." Quistis began as she eyed Irvine and Zell waving at them viciously from inside the bus. "Wanna take the bus?" She asked slyly. Selphie looked to the bus and found what she was looking at. 

"Whoooo... of course." Selphie giggled as she skipped for the bus, followed by Quistis... 

* 

Yuki walked home alone in a sullen state of mind after the incident with Rinoa. 

"She probably already made him fall for her. Dammit." She cursed. "Why can't I ever get a good guy?" She asked herself with a whisper as she looked up to the sky, between the trees. 

"Hey! Yuki!" A deep voice called from behind her. She turned her head behind her and found Seifer running towards her. She sighed with a smile as she finally had some company. She turned back to face ahead as Seifer came up along beside her. "Where did you go? I was looking all over for you... while running away from the stupid art teacher." He said as he rubbed the back of his neck. 

"What did you do to her?" She asked, wanting to go with the latter topic. 

"Don't think you can change the subject on me!" He said, reading her mind instantly. 

"I just went... to get some stuff from my locker. That's all." She lied. He bought it, that's all that mattered. 

"Oh... Well. With the art teacher... I was supposed to get her some paint brushes from the supply closet down the hall, so anyways, I go out and..." He explained his stupid mistakes, his rude insults and his funny pranks to her as they walked home. Yuki and Seifer enjoying the whole time... 

Exit Stage Left 

*** 

A/n: I hope that was good! I think it felt a bit rushed, but what's important is what YOU thought! So review! Anyways... to important matters... my grammar sucks ass... thank you. I don't have a melodramatic chapter preview for this time... next time I will though. I've started to write chapters in pairs... so in Chapter 3, you'll see a preview for 4. Got it? Good. 

P.S. This story isn't meant to have one ongoing conflict (referred to in my bitching above)... so each chapter has a conclusion and there PROBABLY won't be any cliff hangers... each chapter is a mini story, if you will. 

"ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!!" 


	3. And On the Fifth Night There Was Consequ...

Chapter THREE: And On the Fifth Night There Was Consequence...

Note: Homo-eroticism in following chapters... MWHAHA!! There isn't going to be yaoi though... unless you don't mind... tee hee

**************

Squall awoke with the impossibly annoying beeping his alarm sang. He lifted his body into a sitting position and looked to his calendar to the left of him. 

"3 more days..." He whispered with a tired yawn. He tossed his feet over the side of his bed, tried to stand but instead fell flat on his face onto the carpet below. "Dammed mornings..." He mumbled into the soft carpet. He pushed himself up and stumbled off like a drunkard to the bathroom....

*

"Another fine day to greet the sun!" Rinoa's alarm clock exclaimed over and over. She shot up from her bed, hit a switch on the top of the alarm and hopped out of bed, full of energy. She looked at herself in the mirror with a smile as she flicked her hair, she gave a brighter smile to herself. She quickly dashed over to the window and pulled up the blinds, letting the sunlight stream through. Her room filled with light and the once dreary mood faded and in its place, an upbeat one. 

"Shower shower..." She sang as she skipped out her room and into a nearby bathroom...

*

Squall fumbled with the lever that worked the shower. He pulled it up from outside the shower as he still had to undress. The water shot down, freezing cold, but Squall didn't notice. He undressed and lazily stumbled into the shower. 

"WAH! COLD!!" He screamed as his hand scrambled to find the shower lever. He finally found it and turned it off. He stood there, heaving and panting, traumatized, but fully awake. "We'll try this again..." He said, an annoyed look on his face. He pushed the lever to 'Warm' and and turned the shower on. The water was perfect. He sighed with relief and picked up a bottle of shampoo and was about to squirt some into his hand until he heard the door open. He looked around the curtain and found his little brother running for the toilet. 

"Really gotta piss! Don't look!" He cried. Squall quickly hid his face, not wanting to see either. 

"Thanks!" His brother said after a minute. 

"Whatever." Squall lamely answered, wanting to get back to showering. He turned back to the shower until he heard the toilet flush. "Oh... shit..." He cursed as he watched the shower head carefully as water continued to spray down. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! IT'S HOT!!" He screamed in utter pain...

*

Rinoa turned the shower lever to warm and turned it on. The shower shot the water down and Rinoa stuck her hand out to feel the comfortable water pounding against her. 

"Perfect." She said with a delighted smile. She undressed and entered the shower. She began to sing as she was always did, every morning. A knock came from the door, interrupting her singing. 

"I need to go to the bathroom. You in here, Rinoa?" A voice asked, it was her younger sister. 

"Yes." She called back in a sing song voice. 

"I'll use the other bathroom then..." The voice said, trailing off as she ran to another bathroom. Rinoa continued singing pleasantly...

*

"What a craptastic morning..." Squall mumbled with a snarl, his arms crossed as he sat on the bus.

"What happened?" Zell asked, next to him. 

"Nothing..." He mumbled as he put his head down to sleep. He closed his eyes and was about to lull off into dream world until he felt Zell move and someone else move into the vacant seat. He didn't know who it was, but whoever it was was lighter and smelled so much better. 

"Does he always sleep on the bus?" A tender voice asked. His eyes flew open and looked to the person, it was Rinoa. 

"Yeah." Zell answered. "Oh... he's up." He said, looking to Squall. 

"Good morning." She greeted with a smile. 

"It sucks..." He mumbled and closed his eyes again, wanting to sleep. 

"Grouchy." She said with a whisper. 

"He's always like that." Zell told her with a little smile, poking Squall gently in the forehead. 

"That's a shame. You should sleep more." She advised him. 

"I'm trying to!" He reminded her with an irritated tone. 

"I mean at night." She said with a frown. 

"He's not a morning person." Zell said, summing everything up for Rinoa. 

"Could have just told me that." She reminded Squall as she looked to him out of the corner of her eye. 

"He'll be full of energy by the time we get to school." Zell ensured. There was silence for a bit until Rinoa turned behind her, to Zell.

"You have an odd name." She said with a little nod of her head. 

"Huh?" He asked as the bus made a stop. The doors opened and Quistis and Selphie stepped onto the bus. Their walks: sultry and inviting. Zell totally forgot about Rinoa's comment and looked with total lust to the two girls. 

"Hey... Zell. Do you remember what I was talking about?" Rinoa asked with a teasing smile.

"No.. not really." He mumbled blindly as he watched them take a seat across from Rinoa. She laughed and turned back ahead of her. 

"Thought so..." She said with an evil smirk. 

"Well, Rinny? What's the verdict?" Selphie asked, leaning across the aisle towards her. 

"He totally forgot what I was talking about. He concentrated on your sultry walk and your cleavage which might I add you did a nice job of showing!" She remarked pointing to the cleavage. 

"Oh why thank you! It hurts my boobs to make them show like that..." She whimpered and tried to adjust her bra as best as possible. Zell just watched and drooled all over the seat and himself. 

"Dude... Irvine!" Zell said as he punched him in the face lightly waking him from his sleep. 

"What?" He asked groggily. He suddenly caught what Zell was talking about. His mouth hung open, his tongue plopped out and he drooled. Rinoa turned to them with a scowl then back to Selphie. 

"Why don't you adjust it where its private... like in the bathroom at school." She advised to Selphie was still fiddling with her bra and breasts.

"But it hurts like a bitch." Selphie whimpered through clenched teeth. 

"Then at least turn away!" Rinoa exclaimed, giving quick nods to the two staring at her. 

"Oh! You perverts!" Selphie exclaimed with a deep glare, snapping the boys out of their trances. She turned away from them and fiddled a bit more, Quistis helping her. 

_"Squall..." A sweet voice began behind him. He turned around and found Yuki there, all to much cleavage visible. _

_"Yuki. What are you doing here?" He asked, looking around at the white surroundings. "... in my dream?" He finished. _

_"I came to talk to you Squall." She said as a bench appeared between them. They both took a seat, Squall at one end and Yuki at the other. _

_"What did you want to talk about?" He asked, not moving from his position. _

_"When?" She asked sounding hurt. _

_"Huh?" He questioned as she advanced towards him. _

_"Why not?" She asked, that same hurt tone coming through. _

_"What are you talking about?" He asked, pressing himself to the end of the bench. She fell onto him, her arms draped him. _

_"Just ask me..." She said with a whisper as she closed her eyes as if she was to fall asleep. The bench vanished and the two were left standing. Yuki hugging Squall tightly as he just stood there, not knowing what to do exactly. She looked up and smiled into his eyes... then smacked him over the head..._

Squall woke with a jolt. He looked around and Zell, Rinoa, Selphie and Quistis. The only sound was Irvine's soft and irritable snoring who had just fallen asleep again. There was more silence as they continued to stare. 

"Awkward silence..." Selphie broke in as she whistled a little tune. 

"I always sleep on the bus." Squall said, answering all of their silent questions. 

"That's an interesting way to start the day." Selphie commented as she finally fixed her bra. Her cleavage was gone and in its place was none... just humble breasts. 

"Why do you care about me so much? Irvine sleeps to." Squall reminded them in a very factual manner. He pointed to the sleeping figure who was curled up next to Zell. 

"He's so cute when he sleeps!" Zell said with a giggle as he pet Irvine's hair like a little puppy. 

"BARK!" Irvine exclaimed as he turned to a new position. 

"Awww... I'll call you Sparky." Zell stated with a smile as he pulled a piece of string out and tied it loosely around Irvine's neck as a make shift leash. "Puppy..." Zell cooed with an infectious smile as he giggled even more. 

"Ready for the math quiz, Squall?" Rinoa asked turning to him. He was half asleep, but that ended quickly...

"What math quiz?" He asked. "It's only been two friggin' days!" He exclaimed, challenging Rinoa's credibility. 

"We're being quizzed on the stuff we learned last semester." She said with an annoyed frown. "Don't you pay attention?" She asked as she crossed her arms over her chest. 

"That class is to early for me to operate." Squall complained as he turned to look out the window at the passing trees. She sighed, shrugged and ignored it...

"Agh..." Squall grunted as he stuck his tongue out as he exited his math class. "That was awful. It was so hard!" He complained. "I don't remember half that stuff." He whispered under his breath.

"It wasn't that bad. Actually... it was quite easy." Rinoa commented as she tried to think of the things on the test. 

"You're one of those people aren't you?" He asked with an annoyed frown. 

"What's that mean?" She asked.

"You get perfect grades! You become depressed when you get a 99%!" Squall told her. 

"I am NOT like that!" She exclaimed with as she stomped her foot down, angered by his acquisition. "Okay, well, maybe just a little." She mumbled as she scratched her forehead. 

"I knew it!" He yelled. "You just exude perfection!" He stated as he waved his arms about her, showing her her 'aura of perfection'.

"Would you stop it." She scolded as she slapped his arms away. He smiled. "What's so bad about getting good grades?" She asked.

"Nothing. I didn't say it was bad! I was just pointing out a fact." Squall told her as he held up his hands in defense. 

"I'm sure." She said sarcastically. "If you'll excuse me. I have a class to get to." She said as she walked off, her head held high. He only smiled at her disappearing figure. He rubbed the back of his neck and turned for his class...

"So... Rinoa." Selphie began as they sat on the tennis court's bleachers. They were wearing the customary Gym uniform's for girls. White shirts and tight, short and black jogging shorts. "Find anyone attractive?" She asked.

"Selphie. Everyone here is attractive." Rinoa reminded her with a smile. She turned back to the tennis game involving Zell and some other guy who's face couldn't be seen what with all the hair in the way. 

"Okay then. The most attractive." Selphie corrected as she tucked her knees to her chest. 

"I don't know." She blurted out hastily... to hastily. Selphie quickly became suspicious.

"Really?" She asked, leaning closer to her friend. 

"SHH!" Rinoa scolded. "I'm trying to watch the game." Rinoa told her as her eyes watched the ball move from court to court.

"I'll make you talk." Selphie whispered menacingly with a malicious grin. Rinoa instantly became worried, but kept her cool as her eyes continued to follow the match. 

"RINOA WANTS TO HAVE YOUR BABY, ZELL!!!" Selphie screamed. Zell suddenly stopped moving, like someone had put him on pause. The ball was returned and smacked Zell in the face, he didn't even flinch.

"Really!?" He cried, his eyes watering with joy.

"Oh my god, Selphie! What have you done!?" Rinoa yelled as she backed herself all the way to the top of the bleachers as Zell hunted her down like some kind of lizard. He was even crawling on all fours as he slinked up all the seats. "WAH! Your scary!" Rinoa screamed as she ran past him, down the seats and out of the tennis courts. Her arms flayed around like the heroine in the movie 'The Shining' (The one with Jack Nicholas). "STAY AWAY!!" She screamed. 

"Thanks for backing me up." Selphie said with a smile and a wink. 

"No problem. It was fun." Zell told her, standing like a normal person. They stared at each other a bit until Zell looked away with a blush. "Hey uhh... would you like to go to a movie on Friday?" He asked as he kicked the bleacher lightly, not looking to her. She giggled at his shyness. 

"Sure. I'd love to." She answered with a pretty smile. He looked up, a smile that stretched from ear to ear was splayed on his face. It looked like his head was going to rip in two. 

"Pick you up at 8?" He asked, making the final arrangements. 

"Sounds perfect." Selphie agreed, that same smile remaining. "But... I could meet you there. It's gonna be awkward with your parents in the car and everything." She reminded him, looking slightly nervous.

"Ha! No worries!" He ensured. "I have my own car and can drive." He told her. She immediately grabbed hold of his arm and began to rub her head against him. 

"Ahehe... you can drive!" She giggled with a high pitched voice. 

"Umm... yeah." Zell said as he looked around with shifty eyes.

"But... mind if we bring some people? I have an idea..." She said as an evil glint entered her eye.

"Mwhaha!!" Zell laughed evilly with her, even though he had no idea what she was planning. 

"Hey Rinny!" Selphie greeted after school. They were going to walk home today, despite the hot weather. 

"Hello Selphie. How was your day?" She asked with a smile. "Where's Quistis?" She asked, looking around.

"Never mind her." Selphie said with a giggle. 

"Stupid Selphie!" Quistis yelled in annoyance. "I bet she didn't even lose her notebook... and why the hell am I searching for it!?" She asked as she crawled out from under a desk. 

"Anyways..." Selphie said with a smile. "Would you like to go to a movie on Fri-Fri?" She asked, trying to act cute. 

"Sure. What movie?" Rinoa asked.

"Don't know. We have to see what's coming out." She said as she danced around Rinoa with a happy smile. 

"Are you okay?" Rinoa asked her.

"Of course! Never better!" She said with a smile as she hugged her friend.

"Oh... umm... okay." Rinoa said with a shrug and a smile. 

*

The days leading up to Friday were totally uneventful. Yuki hadn't done anything stupid. Squall hadn't angered/embarrassed anyone except himself when he comically slipped on a banana peel. Zell hadn't been lusting after anyone. Irvine hadn't been... well... doing much of anything. Selphie had freaked out less and Quistis... well Quistis is Quistis. 

Selphie and Zell had secretly decided on an action movie called 'Torgue: The Hunter'. It had the worst title in history but they didn't care. Selphie and Rinoa had decided on 'Countdown 2 Destruction'. Another awful movie title, but was supposedly good. 

As Zell's car pulled up to Rinoa's house Rinoa gave it a puzzled look as she saw Selphie waving from the passenger seat. She got into the back seat with a confused face.

"Hello Zell." She greeted questionably. "Selphie?" She asked. Selphie already knew her question.

"Ahehe... I just invited him at the last minute!" She lied. They drove for a bit more in the night until they came to a stop at another house. 

"Who else did you invite?" Rinoa questioned as she saw Squall walk towards them in a casual strut. He opened the door to the back seats and seated himself next to Rinoa.

"Hey Rinoa." Squall greeted with a smile. "Didn't know you were coming!" He said. "You like these kinds of movies?" He questioned with a smile.

"Sure. Why not?" She asked. "Girls can like destructive things to you know!" She countered. 

"You just seem like the girl that-" He was about to finish his rude stereotypical sentence until Selphie butted in. 

"So!? Wanna do anything after the movie?" Selphie interrupted with a smile.

"Sure! Like what?" Rinoa asked. "The arcade?" She asked/pleaded. 

"Sounds good to me!" Zell exclaimed with a smile.

"Me to." Squall agreed. 

"Then it's settled! After the movie we head for the arcade!" Selphie exclaimed triumphantly. 

They arrived at the movie theater and parked out front of it. 

"Squall, Rin. You guys get out. We're gonna go find a parking space. Go ahead and buy your tickets." Selphie told them with a wink to Squall as the two got out. Zell drove away with Selphie, leaving Rinoa and Squall.

They walked to the counter, Squall ahead of Rinoa. 

"Two for Countdown 2 Destruction." Squall said. 

"That'll be 15 dollars." The man said as he pulled out two tickets. Squall handed him the money and the man handed him the tickets in exchange. 

"Hey! Why did you get two?" Rinoa asked him, sounding confused. 

"One for you... and one for me." He told her like it was a no-brainer. 

"How much did it cost. Let me pay you back." Rinoa said as she dug into her purse for money. 

"Don't. You really don't have to." He told her, placing a hand on top of hers. 

"I want to." She exclaimed with tight resolve. 

"Fine. But not now." He told her. She shrugged but sighed and nodded. 

"Then when?" She asked. It was obvious to Squall that she was feeling guilty.

"How about. When you get four times that amount." Squall answered with a wink. Rinoa sighed with defeat but nodded none the less. "Want anything to eat or drink?" He asked as they walked by the food bar. 

"Yes... and I'll get it this time." She said with a tiny growl. She went up to the counter where a man with a horrendous case of acne waited. 

"Can I get a small Coke and a small popcorn?" She asked with a smile. 

"Sure." The man said with a frown, not responding to her optimistic ways. 

"Are we going to share a small?" Squall asked, sounding hurt.

"I don't want you to be indebted to me." She told him with a smirk.

"We can call it even if you get me a medium Sprite." He said with a nudge. He knew the offer was tempting.

"Fine." She said, finally caving in. The man returned with what she ordered. "And can I also get a medium sprite?" She asked with the same pleasant smile.

"Yes, your majesty." The man said with a scowl. Rinoa gave him a quizzical look, but she ignored the comment for the most part. He brought back the drink and slammed it down next to the popcorn and the other drink. Rinoa cringed and took a step back away. "7.70" He said. She handed him the money and didn't even bother saying thanks as she quickly walked away towards Squall.

"You're welcome!" He called back, mocking her. She handed the stuff to Squall, turned around and flicked him off. 

They entered the theater when it was still light and the screen was dark. Rinoa looked around at all the available seats. She tried to point out an area with four seats in a row. She found a few, but they were all in the second or third row. 

"Crowded." Squall pointed out as he looked about the theater with her. "Oh! Right there!" He exclaimed with a smile as he pointed to a spot as he placed his hand on Rinoa's shoulder. 

Rinoa's breath caught in her as her heart skipped a beat for the briefest of seconds. As Squall tried to guide her to the seats he noticed her odd behavior, she stumbled a bit from the sudden feeling that overwhelmed her. Squall took quick notice.

"You okay?" He asked, worried as he peered into her eyes.

"Huh... oh yeah." She said lamely as Squall led the way to the seats 

'What was that Rinoa? Oh my god... this is just like a cliché ridden romance movie! When the person that that person loves touches them their heart skips a beat n'stuff... could I be? What? No! Why are you basing all of your supposed 'feelings' on stupid romance movies you watched as a kid? Fuck you Titanic. Huh! I said fuck! I said it again! I've never said the F word before! Well... I didn't say it. Okay, false alarm. Relax Rinoa, just relax. Act natural... look like you know where you're going. Focus on the seats...'. She sighed with a tiny nod as she agreed with her thoughts and scanned over the area where they were heading for. There weren't four seats. "Are you sure you know where you're going?" She asked, her eyes squinting about the room, looking for where he was talking about. 

"Yeah." He said with a smile. He pointed to two seats right on the edge of the aisle.

"But..." She whispered, totally confused.

"Oh.. uhh... well... I figured we all wouldn't like sitting up at the front so I thought we could just sit in pairs." He said craftily. She narrowed her eyes at him, questioning him silently but nodded none the less. They took their seats as the lights dimmed and the previews began to play.

'I can't believe this...' Squall thought silently as he watched the previews, but was secretly falling into his own little reality. 'This is how I get my first date. Then again, I never would have had the courage to ask her myself and this is just like a stereotypical romance movie. Those always work out in the end. Not in Titanic though! Fuck you Titanic!' He thought as a worried feeling crept over him. 'God... this is so stupid. I just want to leave. I'm an embarrassment to myself.... is that even possible? Not the time Squall, not the time! Just concentrate on the movie, no matter how bad it is... You just need to make polite conversation afterwards. Right.' He agreed to himself as sweat began to form on his forehead. 

Rinoa looked over to him and noticed his worried look and the sweat on his forehead. 

"Are you alright?" She asked. Squall turned to her, even more nervous than before.

"Fine, never better!" He insisted with a smile. He grabbed his drink from the holder and took four large gulps.

"Okay then..." Rinoa mumbled and began to eat her popcorn as she continued to watch the previews. 

"Are you ready?" The preview asked. "To get ready to... dance?" It finished. There was total silence when all of the sudden tons of images came flashing at them with dramatic music to back it and it ended.

Rinoa bent over, close to Squall's ear. Her fingers pushed locks of his hair out of the way of his ear. She came closer to his ear, about to whisper something, her soft breath touching his cheek lightly. Squall's breathing quickened as did his heart. He could feel it against his chest like a drum. The world outside became a distant memory as his five senses focused on her. Steadily, his heart jumped to his throat as her mouth opened, ready to speak.

"That movie looks so bad." She whispered. Squall's heart fell, his shoulder's slumped and his expression soured. He was expecting something different... but why? 'What was I expecting from her? The way she touched me... wait... she never touched me. I guess, I just hyped it up beyond belief.' He finally realized with a heavy sigh.

"Yeah. It does look bad." He agreed with a nod and a forced smile. 

"Now! For our feature presentation!" A voice boomed and the 'before' credits began to roll, backed with dramatic music. 

"I hope Zell and Selphie got here in time." She said as she pushed her head up a little bit, trying to see if she recognized their heads. She couldn't see as it was far to dark. 

"I'm sure they made it." Squall insisted. 'I wonder how they're doing in their movie?' 

'I'm going to KILL you Selphie!' Rinoa thought venomously as she clenched her fist around a handful of popcorn, turning it into dust. She knew what she had done, and she wasn't going to take it sitting down... until after the movie. 

A good way into the movie the main character was lurking around, holding a butcher knife. He was in a dark parking garage, no cars though which didn't seem right to Rinoa. The spooky music continued to play as the character heard a sound from behind him. He turned with haste but found nothing. Another sound came from behind him, he turned but found nothing. He continued forward when suddenly the killer popped out with his giant ax.

Rinoa shrieked and tossed her head into Squall's shoulder, closing her eyes. Squall rolled his eyes.

"I thought you said you liked these kinds of movies." He reminded her with an annoyed stare. 

"I-I do. They just scare me like hell." She told with a whimper.

"Can't take the heat, get out of the fire." He said to her. She scowled and turned back to the movie. "Just kidding." He said with a smile.

"I know." She admitted with an equally pleasant smile. 

When the movie was finished they walked outside, closer than they had been before. 

"It was so cool when the guy was like 'I'm gonna kill you!'" Rinoa squealed with an excited laughter as she imitated someone holding an ax above their head. "And the ending was so kick-" She was about to finish her comment until she spotted Zell and Selphie. She remained stoic as Squall looked to her curiously. He followed her eye line and saw what she was staring at. They were coming out of a different movie, Squall new that from the beginning, but what he didn't expect is what they would be doing when they got out. They were holding hands. They were so close to each other, it's like they had been dating for years.

Rinoa steadily walked for them, Squall behind her. She walked to Selphie who just smiled at her with a little giggle. 

"I see you made a friend..." Rinoa said, totally disgusted. "IN A DIFFERENT FRIGGIN' MOVIE!!" She finished with a scream as she began to throttle her. 

"Woah! Rin! Calm yourself!" Squall told her as he wrapped his arms under her shoulders and pulled her back and away from Selphie. Rinoa began to kick wildly. 

"If I ever catch you again!" Rinoa warned as her eyes filled with intense hatred as she began to breath fire on unsuspecting people passing by the scene. 

"Sorry Rin... the movie was uhhh... sold out." Selphie lied with a tender smile. 

"I'm sure." Rinoa said with a scowl as she calmed herself. Squall slowly set her down, realizing it was safe. "Let's just go to the arcade so I can vent off my frustration with Time Crisis 3." She said as she stormed off. "C'mon Squall!" She ordered. Squall obediently came to her side.

"I'm not your dog you know." He reminded her with a little frown. 

"I know. You're just the person I can trust right now." She told him with a smile.

"That's good to know." He said with a bright smile...

*****

A/n: AHHH!! IT WAS SO CHEESY!! I just couldn't help myself. I also couldn't help making pop-culture references... like 'The Shining' and Time Crisis 3. Stuff like that. Oh! I have the best idea for the next chapter! MWHAHA!

In the Next Chapter!!!! Irvine who has been mysteriously quiet throughout this entire story finally reveals why he has been so quiet and the whole group is shocked at the revelation. At school, a new student appears... None of the girls have seen her before and neither have any of the boys! Well, except one boy... Squall. As she begins to make her 'moves' on Squall the seeds of jealousy begin to flare up in Rinoa. But why? She can't figure it out... and she doesn't really want to either... or does she? 

All That In The Next Chapter!!

**The Seed Has Told This Tale**

Bye You All!


	4. The Seed Has Told This Tale

**WARNING FOR FUJIN LOVERS!!!**

Squall and Rinoa stood before the large test score sheet outside their math room. It was before school started so there weren't a lot of people hustling and bustling about on the second floor. 

The sheet read the scores plain and simple. Rinoa Heartily: 100%. Her name was at the top of the list for obvious reasons. Squall's however... was third from the last, getting the grade of 60%.

"It's still passing." Rinoa observed with an optimistic smile. 

"Barely." Squall mumbled as depression set in. 

"Even though it was the first assignment worth points, it was still only the first. And it wasn't worth very many points anyways. You have lots of chances to bring your grade up." She reminded him. His mood brightened, a bit. Even though her words were helpful, they didn't cure depression. "Don't worry about it!" She insisted, seeing his still sad face. 

"If you got this bad of a grade on this, what would you be thinking?" He asked. He wasn't challenging her, he was simply wondering.

"I'd be depressed, like you." She said.

"Exactly." Squall stated, seeing his chance to back his point.

"However! I wouldn't let it get me down. Even if it rains, the clouds eventually diverge and in comes the sun. Rain doesn't stay." She reminded him. He remained silent for a bit, unsure how to respond.

"Awkward silence..." He mumbled after a minute. "Oh!" Squall exclaimed, thinking of something to talk about. "You were really good on Time Crisis on Friday." He complimented with a smile.

"Thanks. I imagined every person as Selphie... even the civilians. Bang bang!" Rinoa exclaimed with a smile as her hand formed the style of a gun. 

"Are you still mad at her?" Squall asked as they began to make their way down to the entrance of the school to meet with their friends.

"No, not really. We patched things up on Saturday and Sunday." She told him. He sighed with relief afraid of confrontation on school grounds.

"Thank god." He whispered.

"What?" She asked, she had heard him, he knew it.

"Hehe... I just didn't want a cat fight on school grounds." He told her with a sheepish smile.

"Thanks for the 'concern', but we're fine." Rinoa told him as they pushed open the double doors, revealing the sunlit outside. They found their friends chatting aimlessly on the grass. 

"Hey gu-" Squall was about to finish his sentence until a pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders. He stumbled forward a bit and Rinoa looked to him, totally surprised. She saw what had clung on to him. It was a girl, dressed in a standard school uniform. Her hair was a remarkable silver and her stature was short. She just gave Rinoa a deep glare that could cause the prettiest of flowers to catch on fire and turn to ash. Rinoa just gave her a startled look. "What the!?" Squall cried as he finally stopped stumbling. 

"Hi!" The girl answered in a sweet voice. 

"Oh! Hey Fujin!" Squall greeted with a cheerful smile. She jumped off his back and gave him a hug. Her head nestled into his chest and a smile of pure serenity showed on her face.

'Fujin? Is that his girlfriend?' Rinoa thought, a bit confused. 'Who is she? I've never seen her before... Whoever she is... she's very pretty. To pretty. She must have gotten plastic surgery. Geez, I didn't know we had someone like THAT at your school.' She thought, totally amazed. 

"How have you been? I haven't seen you in so long, Lil' Fuji!" Squall exclaimed with a smile as he pulled away from the embrace and looked her over.

"I've been great!" She said with a smile as she flicked her shoulder length hair seductively. Squall's eye's followed the seductive whip of hair closely. 

"And who is this, fine young women? What grade are you in honey? 6th?" Zell asked as he bent down close to her face. He was being totally serious. 

"Oh god Zell..." Selphie mumbled as she slapped her forward in light of his ignorance. Fujin glared... and glared then finally scratched his face.

"I'm in 10th grade you ass!" She screamed. Zell held his face in pain as he mumbled an apology and hid behind Selphie. "Same grade as you!" She screamed, drawing the attention of everyone around them. 

"Still have quite the pair of lungs on you." Squall joked. Fujin laughed along with him. The laugh was totally fake but Squall either didn't care didn't notice. Once the laughter subsided, she spun her head over to Rinoa as her eyes scanned her over slowly.

"Who's she?" She asked in a scrutinizing tone. "Your girlfriend?" She questioned harshly as she turned to him. He laughed at her comment.

"She's not my girlfriend." He insisted with a blush. "She's a friend. Her name's Rinoa." He told her. "Rinoa this is Fujin." He greeted for them.

"Hello." Rinoa greeted and extended a hand to shake. Fujin took the hand and clamped down hard and glared evilly, unbeknownst to the rest of the group. Her eyes said it all: 'I'm gonna kill you!'. The pressure on Rinoa's hand was causing it to turn red. She tried to resist the need to scream out and she bit her lip. Fujin finally let go and Rinoa sighed with relief as the pressure was lifted. 

The bell rang just as she let go and another sigh of relief escaped Rinoa's lips.

"See you at lunch?" Fujin questioned to Squall as she turned to him. 

"Sure. Will Raijin sit with us?" He asked. "Where is Raijin anyways?" He asked, becoming curious. 

"He just needs to talk with his teacher this morning." Fujin admitted. Her tone said that she wasn't sure of something and Rinoa looked at her skeptically. "And yes... he'll eat lunch with us." She said. "Now, I have to go to Gym." She said and ran around the side of the school, where the lockers were located. 

"Nice, isn't she?" Squall asked, elbowing Rinoa lightly in the shoulder.

"Charming." Rinoa lied with a precious smile. 'What the hell is her problem?' She thought, totally perplexed.

**Chapter FOUR: The Seed Has Told This Tale**

"What the hell is the Summer Festival?" Rinoa asked as she held up the flyer that Zell had given her. She dropped the top of the flyer a bit to see Zell's beaming face.

"It's the Festival just after the Second Semester ends and marks the middle of the Summer season." He told her, his face still smiling. 

"That's great." Rinoa said, not knowing what else to say. 

"Oh. I guess I didn't specify." Zell apologized as he rubbed his neck. "The Festival is when students get to put on performances, shows, throw dinner parties, anything. It lets people express themselves!" He said with a smile.

"You're starting a group... aren't you?" Rinoa asked, reading him like a book. He nodded vigorously. 

"Would you like to be in it?" He asked, leaning close to her face. She pushed him away with a strong hand and thought a moment.

"What would you be doing?" She asked, making sure.

"Don't know. You can help decide." He said, trying to make it sound inviting. 

"No thanks." She apologized as she handed the flyer back to him.

"Really? Are you sure?" He asked, sounding desperate. 

"Sorry Zell. Clubs just aren't my thing." She told him. 

"At least sleep on it." He pleaded. 

"Fine." She said, giving in. "But why do you want me so badly? There are plenty of other people." She reminded him.

"You'd be the only girl I know in it, besides Selphie." 

"Who else is in it?"

"Selphie, me." He answered with a tiny mumble. 

"Oh geez." Rinoa whispered as she shook her head. "I'll think about it Zell. Lets just go eat lunch, okay?" She pleaded as she felt her stomach rumble. Zell sighed, but nodded none the less. 

They walked out to the front of the school where, sitting on the grass, was everyone. They had eaten there since the beginning of the second semester. 

"Finally!" Squall called out in annoyance. Rinoa looked to him and found Fujin resting her head against his knee. She scowled at the closeness they shared while Fujin only smirked right back, knowing the jealousy that was racking Rinoa's head. An extremely tanned boy sat next to Fujin. He was tall, she could even see that from when he was sitting. She couldn't quite see his face as it was turned around very awkwardly, almost like he was avoiding her gaze. 

"Hey everyone." Rinoa and Zell greeted. 

"Jinx." Zell called. Rinoa stared at him like he was nothing more than a silly 5 year old. 

"Shut up." She demanded.

"Still sore after what happened on Friday?" Selphie asked. 

"Never ever speak of that again!" Rinoa demanded, pointing her fork menacingly at Selphie. 

"Woah, sorry Rinny." She apologized. 

"What happened?" Fujin asked in a sugar sweet voice. 

"Nothing." Rinoa said shortly and all to quickly. 

"I'm sorry, what was your name again?" Fujin asked. Her words were coated with honey but at the core they were heartless and filled with spite.

"Rinoa." She answered, clenching her first tightly behind her. The tanned man turned his head toward her just the tiniest bit.

"Anyways. What happened, Squall?" She asked pushing an intense emphasis on his name. 

"I don't think Rinoa really wants to talk about it." He told her with a small blush as he looked to Rinoa who only smiled back. 

"Why not?" Fujin asked, sounding almost hurt.

"So what school did you come from?" Rinoa asked, breaking the topic at hand for good reasons. 

"We were home schooled." The tanned man answered abruptly as he turned his entire attention to her. He was remarkably attractive and Rinoa couldn't help comparing him and Squall. She also couldn't help but get a sense of nostalgia as she looked at him. "Our parents finally decided to send us to public school." He finished. Rinoa looked on at him intently, almost as if she didn't hear anything of the things he said. 

There was utter silence amongst the group as the pairs eye's interlocked. Squall's eyes began to switch back and forth from Rinoa and Raijin. 

"Have we met?" She finally asked. 

"No." He answered.

"Really? You just seem very familiar." She ended as she settled down. "So? You were home schooled?" She asked, looking to Fujin. 

"Yeah." Raijin answered. There was more awkward silence. 

"Wanna join my Summer Festival group?" Zell asked as he gave a flyer to each of them. 

"I'll join!" Fujin cried out in a happy tone. She obviously knew what the 'Summer Festival' was. Zell signed her name down on his little paper. 

"You're joining, right Squall?" She asked, looking up to him.

"No way!" He said with a laugh. Her face fell instantly. 

"Take me off the list." She demanded. 

"No." Zell answered stiffly. He wasn't going to lose a member just because she wanted to be with some guy.

"Do it." She demanded. 

"No." He said with tight resolve.

'Why does she care so much about what Squall's doing or not?' Rinoa thought irritated. 'Would I join if he was joining? That's silly. I've made my decision. Geez... is her life ruled by Squall? Or more importantly... is mine? I might have not wanted to join in the beginning but why do I not want to join even more? Because she's in it? Or because Squall's not. I don't know anymore.' Rinoa concluded as the bickering continued. 

The bickering went for a bit more until Irvine finally stood and walked away with a mumble.

"What'd he say?" Quistis asked as the bickering stopped.

"I don't know." Rinoa said. "I'm gonna go see what's wrong." She said, got up and walked away. "... and to get away from you yah little bitch." She mumbled as she stepped inside. The halls were empty. No one spent their lunches eating inside when it was a beautiful day outside, plus they wanted to get as far away from school as they could. 

She looked down both directions, hoping Irvine would still be in the hall. He wasn't. She looked down both sides and tried to decide which way he had gone. Using her powers of psychology, she took the right path considering that one: it was most likely the hand he wrote and two: It was the side we drove on and three: Since he seemed to be in such a hurry, he would have went with instinct, which was the right. 

She walked down away and found his head inside his locker. '... that was probably the most logical place he would be. Wasted my life with that stupid psycho babble.' she thought with a sigh. She walked steadily to him. 

"Umm... Irvine?" She began. In a startle, Irvine smashed his head against the top of his locker and pulled himself out in a hectic state and ended up falling onto his butt.

"Ow." He mumbled as he rubbed his head.

"Are you okay?" She asked as she knelt down and rubbed his head gingerly where he had hit it. 

"Yeah. Fine." He admitted. 

"Sounded like you hit your head pretty hard." Rinoa noted as she began to feel for a bump or bruise. 

"I did.." He mumbled. There was silence for a bit.

"You've been pretty quiet lately." She commented as she pulled back from Irvine. They both stood and Irvine seemingly towered over her. 

"I guess." He mumbled. The sudden change in attitude only caused Rinoa to pursue things further. 

"Why did you leave suddenly?" She asked.

"Just needed to get some stuff." He admitted. 

"Really?" She questioned.

"Really."

"Then you wouldn't mind if I..." She quickly opened his locker entirely, but he quickly slammed it shut causing Rinoa to smash her fingers. 

"OOOWWW!!" She screamed as she sucked on her fingers delicately. 

"Oh my god! Are you alright!?" Irvine asked, totally worried. She pushed the locker open with her elbow and stuck her upper body in, making sure he didn't close it. Still sucking on her fingers, she looked around his locker. There was a red rose taped to the back of his locker with lots of pictures of a girl and him around it. The girl was pretty, very pretty and Irvine looked so happy with her.

"Is... is this your girlfriend?" Rinoa asked as she pulled herself slowly out from the locker. He glared at her and when she was finally out, he slammed the locker shut. The sound boomed down through the empty halls. 

"Never do that again." He warned. He tried to walk past, but she got in his way.

"Is she?" She asked.

"Is she what?" He asked, pretending to forget her last question.

"Is she your girlfriend?" She asked again.

"Yeah." He finally said, giving in.

"She's pretty." Rinoa admitted. 

"You a lesbian?" Irvine asked, totally serious. Rinoa only shook her head in distaste.

"Girls can call each other pretty." She told him.

"Oh..." He mumbled. "But yeah, she's very pretty, and kind." He confessed. 

"Perfect?" She asked with a smile as she rubbed her swollen fingers a bit. 

"Definitely. She's just so... great." He admitted. "That feels so clichéd." He admitted with a laugh.

"It is, but that's no reason to stop you from saying it." She reminded him.

"True." He admitted. There was silence between the two for a long moment.

"Do... do you love her?" Rinoa asked, looking to her feet, afraid that Irvine would get mad and something else she couldn't put her finger on...

"I think I do... that's why I've been sorta out of it lately." He admitted. He grabbed Rinoa's shoulder's and sank to his knees. "What is love, Rinoa?" He asked, pleading in agony.

"I don't know." She answered, a bit confused by the situation. 

"Does anyone know? Does it even really exist? Or is it something that has-been poets talk about? And what do you do if you're in love? Do you get married? Do you make love to them?" He asked. The barrage of questions was catching Rinoa off guard.

"Irvine..." She began soothingly, bringing him up to his feet. "Love isn't a universal thing. While the word itself might be, the feeling people get when they exclaim 'I'm in love' is different from person to person. For one person it might be when they get butter flies in their stomach when they look at that person. For some it might be a lust for sex. For some it might be when they like someone they feel it's love. I'm not saying any of those are wrong. I'm just giving examples. Everyone feels love." She said with a tender smile. "And when you do finally figure out that you're in love. You don't have to do anything special. Be yourself. That's what got you so far. You could have had sex before you even thought you loved her. And well, marriage is a whole different subject all together." She said as she finished. Irvine had watched her intently the whole time, taking in every word. 

"You're brilliant." He whispered. He wrapped her up in a big bear hug, squeezing her tightly. "I'd be glad to have you as Squall's girlfriend!" He said and began to shake her about with a smile. 

"Irvine." She began as he put her down. "I don't think Squall and I are going to be dating." She assured him. He frowned.

"But you two look so cute together." He mumbled sheepishly. She blushed deeply. 

"I wouldn't tell Squall that." Rinoa said with a smile as she patted him on the head. Irvine laughed as they went back out to eat with everyone... 

After school, Rinoa had to stay extra late in her English class because of a test that took far to long. When she finally finished. She slammed her pencil down in annoyance, snatched her paper up and handed it to the teacher. The teacher smiled at her and she gave him a smile, though it was fake to the very core. When she turned around for her desk, her smile fell and a menacingly 'I'm gonna rip your organs out' look flashed across her face. 

She packed her stuff up in a hurry and looked out the window to see if Quistis and Selphie were waiting for her. They were... but along with Squall and the little munchkin Fujin. Rinoa gritted her teeth so hard she thought she could hear them screech. She flipped her hair with a steady hand as if she didn't care and walked out of the classroom and out of the school. 

"Finally Rinny!" Selphie called with annoyance as Rinoa came running for them. 

"Sorry. Had to finish taking a test in English." She admitted with a little laugh. 

"It's alright." Squall insisted. 

"Not to be rude, but what are you doing here? Don't you take the bus home?" Rinoa asked, pointing to the bus behind him. She saw Zell and Irvine waving like idiots, smashing their faces against the window and basically being asses of themselves. 

"I asked if he could walk me home. We live right next door." Fujin stated as she pushed her self deeper into his arm as she clung onto it. Rinoa's anger rose and so did her jealousy. 

'What the hell is she trying to do? We're not dating! She sees me as competition probably... Well, let me tell you. This is no way to beat the competition you ass. Your little games are only lighting my fire for a fight. Unless, that's what she's trying to do. She's good... Wait, I don't even know what her motives are! Is it to start fight? Is it to win a fight? Is it... to make me jealous.' A thought suddenly dawned on Rinoa. It came like a ton of bricks to the side of her face. 'I'm... I'm jealous of Fujin!' 

"Hello? Rin!" Selphie called out as she waved in front of her face. 

"Huh? Oh..." She mumbled in embarrassment. Squall laughed a bit and Fujin laughed along with him. 

"Hey... wait a second." Quistis began. "If you two live next door to each other then why don't you both just take the bus?" Quistis suggested. 

"Ummm..." Fujin began. Rinoa smirked evilly as she saw Fujin in a rut she couldn't get out of. Fujin turned around and saw the bus leave. "To late! No use crying over spilled milk!" She said in a rush with a tiny giggle. She glared at Quistis who only gave her an 'I'm innocent' look. Now Rinoa and Quistis were on her hit lists. 

"Where's Raijin?" Selphie asked, looking back towards the school as they walked away. 

"He had to leave in a hurry." Fujin told them as she snuggled deeper into Squall. She turned her back to Rinoa and gave her a dark glare with an evil smile. She turned to Squall's arm and pretended to lick it. Rinoa picked up a rock next to her and fell behind a bit so no one could see her. Fujin looked at her curiously. Rinoa began to toss the rock up and down in the same hand, tauntingly. She pretended to take aim at Fujin and then pretended to throw it. Fujin screamed in terror until she saw that Rinoa was still holding the rock. 

Everyone turned to Fujin. 

"You alright?" Squall asked, worried. 

"Rinoa tried to throw a rock at me!" She exclaimed as she forced herself to cry fake tears. Squall turned to Rinoa cross. She just shrugged as she held out her hands, showing no rock. 

"Rinoa really wouldn't do that." Squall told her. Fujin glared at her with an intense rage. Rinoa just stuck her tongue out at her. Squall turned around just as Fujin turned her head and he mouthed a 'Sorry'. Rinoa gave him a quizzical look, wondering what the sorry was for, but it was to late as he had already turned his head. She fell back in line with everyone, as she saw no more point in battling with Fujin. 

Rinoa walked along in total silence as the others chatted amongst themselves. 

'Why am I feeling jealous? Do I like Squall? God, what the hell is 'like' anyways. How do I know when I've fallen for him... I wish love, or like or whatever the hell, was a universal feeling. Why did I even give Irvine that advise? I don't know if I was right... I've never been in love. I'm so hopeless.' She thought. She looked up as she woke herself from her thoughts and looked down to Squall who was smiling from a comment that Fujin made. 'What does Squall think of Fujin? Are they dating? What's going on with them? They're probably dating, Fujin just wants to make me jealous. There! There it is again! Me being jealous! Stop it! You're not jealous. You're just confused... stop lying to yourself dammit!' Rinoa thought as her fists clenched at her own stupidity. She looked down to Squall again and she found his eyes locked with hers. 'I've finally realized...' She thought as a smile began to grow on her face. 'I like him.' 

_Author's Break: We're moving into the second portion of the chapter... This is the reason for my delay about this chapter. I've decided to make two parts to every chapter meaning that upcoming chapters are going to have about close to 6,000 words in them. Tee hee! Enjoy the second part._

**_Now... Go Get Some Food/Drink and Come Right Back!_**

**Chapter FOUR Part2: Eye to Eye and Face to Face**

Rinoa lay on her bed as the sunlight of mid day streamed through the open window. The birds chirped to themselves as the sky was a blissful blue. 

She had changed into her casual summer clothes after she returned from school. She was wearing a white dress that ended at her knees and the sunflowers all over it we're a nice touch. It showed off just the hint of cleavage. Rinoa found it her good luck dress as it had helped in times of need before, and now she needed help more than ever...

She rolled herself over, off of her back, and onto her side facing her phone. 

'Just call him... Irvine will know his address.' She said, calming herself. She picked up the phone and punched in Irvine's number but stopped at the last number. Her hand quivered lightly as more thoughts rushed through her head. 'But if he asks why I wanted to know? What should I say? 'Oh, uhh... I just came to confess my feelings... that's all!' No! That just won't fly. I'll make something up on the spot... I'm good at that.' She quickly snatched the phone and punched the numbers in as fast as she could so she couldn't change her mind as she sat up. Her fingers new the number by now as they had punched in the number, save for the last number, in so many times. 

"Hello?" Irvine's voice greeted. Rinoa immediately slammed the phone into the holder, causing it to hang up on him. 

"Oh...." Rinoa whined as she hit herself on the head a few times. "You're such a coward." She complained as she placed her head in her hands. The telephone rang just as she was about to call herself and idiot again. She picked it up, hoping that it wasn't Irvine.

"Hello?" She began.

"Rinoa. Why did you hang up like that?" Irvine's voice asked. Rinoa cursed lightly and she bit her lip. 

"Umm... no reason." She lied. 'What kind of lie was that!?' She scolded herself as she hit her head again.

"Don't lie Rinny." Irvine scolded with a cheery voice. "You can trust me." He insisted. Her thoughts came back to earlier that day when he had confessed to her.

"Okay." Rinoa said with a sigh. "I was wondering..." She paused a bit.

"Yes?" He questioned, wanting her to continue. 

"... if you had Squall's address." She answered meekly.

"Huh?" He asked, totally confused. "Why? You're not going to egg him or anything, right?" He asked, thinking he had caught onto Rinoa's terrible plans.

"No!" She scolded with a laugh as she lied down on her bed. 

"Then why?"

"Just 'cause..." She mumbled.

"'Cause... why?" He asked, wanting her to continue.

"I wanna tell him something." She said.

"Oh! OH!" He exclaimed.

"What?" She asked, ready to get on the defensive side. 

"You LIKE him!" He exclaimed with a sing-song voice.

"It's not like that!" Rinoa exclaimed, now on the defensive side.

"Yes it is." Irvine insisted. 

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Fine!" She screamed into the phone. Irvine suddenly became quiet, knowing he had hit something. "So what if I do!?" She asked, anger filling her emotions. 

"Sorry Rin. I was just playing." He admitted shyly. 

"I didn't 'play' with you when you told me about that girl!" She reminded him, hurt.

"I didn't mean anything bad by it." He insisted. "Please, let me make it up, I didn't mean to hurt you." Irvine pleaded. Rinoa smirked evilly, her plan had worked. 

"Fine..." She said, sounding like she was hurt again. "I have to favor to ask of you." She began.

"What?" He asked, unsure if 'let me make it up' was the best thing to say.

"Find out what Squall thinks about me..." She began but she was interupted by a two beeps which meant that someone else was trying to call. "Can you hold on a second, Irvine? I have another call." She said and flashed to the other line. 

"Hello?" She asked.

"Hi. Is Rinoa there?" A deep voice asked. 

"This is she..." Rinoa said, beginning to understand who it was.

"Oh! Sorry... this is Squall, from school." He told her.

"You're the only Squall I know." She told him as her heart began to beat a bit faster. 

"Whatever. In any case... I was wondering if you could come over and help me with my math crap." He said. "I kind of need help with the material." He said, sounding a bit sheepish.

"Ummm..." Rinoa began, not sure what to say as she was a bit flustered by the whole situation. 

"You could have dinner here if you wanted. My mom's cooking is pretty good." He said with a laugh. She smiled at his good humor.

"Sure. When should I come?" She asked, becoming excited all to quickly. 

"Right now is fine. But whenever you want." He said. "My address is..." He gave her the address and directions and she took them all down carefully.

"Thanks. I'll be over in 10 minutes." She said.

"Thanks so much! Bye." Squall said and hung up. Rinoa giggled like an idiot, she was so excited about seeing his house and family... and room. She flashed back over to Irvine who was singing the Mario theme song.

"Irvine." Rinoa began. He just kept singing. "IRVINE!" She screamed. That woke Irvine from his ballad as the scramble of phone could be heard.

"What!?" He asked, a bit shocked.

"Is Squall's house cool looking?" She asked.

"Yeah, why? You're not going over there now are you!?" He exclaimed.

"Yep. He invited me." She said proudly. 

"Use protection." Irvine warned with a serious tone.

"Shut the hell up." Rinoa demanded. "And remember... when you see him, ask him about me, 'kay?" She asked. 

"Fine, fine." He mumbled.

"Bye."

"Bye." 

She hung up the phone and smiled a gigantic smile. She ran to her back pack, pulled out her math books and notes and dropped them into another pack nearby that read 'Save the Trees, Wipe Your Ass With An Owl'. She slung the bag over her shoulder, slipped on her sandals and skipped down stairs.

"Going to tutor! Going to have dinner there! Call me in my mobile if you need me!" Rinoa called as she grabbed her mobile phone off the front table and slipped it in her bag. 

"Okay! Bye!" Her mom called from the kitchen as Rinoa left.

"Hum de dum de dum!" Rinoa sang as she skipped to the side walk for Squall's house in a merry way. She could see Squall's house. It was pretty frickin' big. Two stories and looked pretty spacious. 

"Where are YOU going!?" A disgusted voice asked from behind her. Rinoa's mood soured, she knew who it was. She turned around to face the culprit with an annoyed face. It was Fujin.

"Squall's." She answered with a big, proud smile.

"Why?"

"I was invited." Rinoa said with a laugh and a smile seeing jealousy race through Fujin. However, she wasn't so jealous when she caught sight of her book bag on her hip. She read the sign and laughed rudely. 

"What a stupid joke. And you're even more stupid for trying to make me jealous when you're just going over there to study! He'd invite me over not to study, but to party." She said with an evil smirk.

"Well, that's cause you're an idiot. Why would he want a complete dumb ass teaching him when he could have me?" Rinoa asked as she pointed to herself. 

"See? That's all you are! A smart girl. You'll never be anything more to him then a 'friend' who helps him with his homework." She countered. "You think you can date him? Never. He sees nothing in you. I can see it." She told her, anger accompanying spiteful words.

"Do you think you can date him?" Rinoa asked, totally serious. 

"Of course." She said, over confident in herself.

"You can't. I'm telling you here and now! He doesn't want you, okay? No matter how much you hate to admit it." Rinoa warned. 

"Why not!?" Fujin cried, angry. "I'm the perfect girl!" She reminded her.

"No, you're not. If you were he'd be all over you in a flash. But things are obviously switched, you're all over him. You cling to him like he's your lifeline." She told her, becoming cross. 

"Well... do you think he wants you?" Fujin asked.

"I don't know. You can't be sure that he doesn't like you either." Rinoa said, turning away from her and the conflict. "I'm going. I'll give my regards to Squall for you." She said, leaving Fujin behind.

"Bitch." Fujin said quietly as she watched Rinoa walk away. 

Rinoa stepped in front of Squall's house's gate. She looked about for a switch or intercom, anything to call attention to her. She found a speaker box next to the gate, it was hard to see as it blended in with the shadow behind it. 

"Hello?" Rinoa questioned into the phone as she held a button down to talk.

"Hello." A young male voice answered. 

"Ummm... is Squall there?" She asked.

"Maybe." He answered. 

"I've got candy..." Rinoa said temptingly. There was hesitation from the boy.

"What kind?" The boy asked.

"Oh my god Kurt! Give me that!" Squall's voice boomed from the background. Kurt screamed and the rustling of the microphone could be heard.

"Hey you little bitch!" Came a muffled cry from Squall as the rustling continued. 

"Fuck you!" Kurt called as the rustling continued. 

"Take that, bitch." Squall finally said as the rustling stopped and the gate opened. "Enter please." He said to Rinoa. She laughed and entered.

She was about to place her hand against the door to knock but the door was flung open before she could. Squall was standing there in his casual clothes. Rinoa was mesmerized by him. He wore a plain white t-shirt, black pants with a chain hanging from his belt loops to his pocket and black shoes with black socks. Rinoa became even more attracted him, there was something sexy about him like this. 

"What?" He asked with a nervous laugh after a minute of silence as she scanned his body. He brought up a hand to his hand and she noticed he had a black spiked bracelet on both wrists. 

"Just..." She muttered, still looking him over.

"Surprised?" He finished for her.

"Yeah." She said as she blushed. He stepped aside to let her in and she did so. He closed the door behind her and led her up stairs to his room.

"Most people are when they see me without my school uniform on." He said, trying to make her feel not so bad. "Most people don't like it." He finished as he opened his door and stepped in, her following and she closed it behind her.

"I like it, a lot." She admitted with a tiny blush.

"Really?" He asked totally surprised. 

"Yeah." She said again with a smile. After a few seconds of silence, Squall realized he was blocking the way into the rest of his room. He quickly moved and gave a quiet apology. She looked around his room. She practically began to drool at everything in his room. super cool looking stereo, TV, computer, a full book shelf worth of music and DVDs and posters adorned his room. The posters were a whole 'nother story. He had a South Park poster, a Godzilla poster, a few anime posters, and one bizarre one of an animated penguin hugging another animated penguin with a real backdrop. 

"Oh... my... god..." Rinoa whispered in disbelief. "Your room is amazing. My room is so plain and boring and... ooohh yeah... TV." She said with lust as she hugged the TV. He just stared on, confused. "Oh sorry..." She apologized. "Studying, right!" She said, pointing to his math book on the floor. It was surrounded by paper and pencils. He took a seat on one side of the books and she the other. 

He opened his book up to where they were learning from in class and Rinoa took out her own book. Squall read her bag and laughed.

"Cute." He said as he reached out and tapped the bag lightly. 

"Oh thanks. Selphie got it for me for my birthday." She told him as she put it on her lap. "She thinks I'm a tree hugger." She said with a little laugh. 

"Are you?" He asked.

"Not really. I mean, I care about the environment and all... does that make me a tree hugger?" She asked, curious.

"Not really." He answered as he leaned back on his arms. 

"Oh... I'm sorry. Studying, right." Rinoa apologized as she pushed her bag off her, causing her dress to lift up a little, revealing more leg then she intended. She didn't notice, but Squall did. He just stared on at the new area of beautiful skin. 

"Squall?" She asked as she looked up to him. She was talking the whole time while he was totally mesmerized with her body. He immediately looked to her with a blush. "You all right?" She asked. He nodded with a laugh.

"Hey... uhh..." He began not knowing what to really say. "Do you really want to study?" He asked as he looked to a drawer that was next to him.

"Why?" She asked. "I thought you needed help." Rinoa reminded him.

"It's just that... I don't know." He said with a crafty smile as he pulled out the drawer he was staring at. Inside was a PS2. 

"No friggin way!" Rinoa cried with excitement as she scrambled to see it. 

"Wanna play?" He asked, knowing he had won her over. 

"Yes, yes, yes yes!" She cried with excitement as she grabbed the second player controller. 

A few hours later and after some embarrassing losses from both Squall and Rinoa, dinner was ready. 

"That game is so addictive." Rinoa said, amazed as she stood from her position on the floor, controller in hand. She placed the controller down in the drawer which hinted at her cleavage. Squall's cheeks reddened as he saw it. She bent up and walked for the closed door. 

She turned back to him with a smile as she stood on the hinge side of the door. The door suddenly flung open, smashing itself into Rinoa's face. 

"OW! My nose!" Rinoa cried out as she grabbed her nose in pain. She pulled herself out from behind the door and Squall rushed to her. 

"Holy crap! Are you okay?" He asked worried and afraid. 

"Shorta." Rinoa said, her nose slightly plugged by her hands. 

"You're not bleeding are you?" He asked. He gently took her hand in his and pulled it away from her nose. It was bleeding, but just a bit. "You're bleeding." Squall answered for her. 

"I hate blood." Rinoa mumbled. He led her to his bed and she took a seat on the edge of it. 

"Here... hold your head up like this..." Squall directed as he lightly took her chin his hands and tilted it up. Rinoa's breathing quickened as this was like a position for a romantic kiss, like in those romance novels/fan fiction. She gulped lightly as his face came close to hers as he continued his instructions. "Plug your nose..." He instructed as he gently took her hand again and placed it up against her nose. 

"I know where my nose is." Rinoa scolded. 

"Sorry." Squall blushed and it almost seemed like he just wanted an excuse to touch her. "Anyways... just pinch down on your nostrils." He finished as he stood back from Rinoa. She did as he told and she held it like that as Squall turned around to confront the person who had thrown his door open. 

"Ahehe..." His younger brother, Kurt giggled sheepishly. Squall dashed forward, grabbed the wrist and pulled him in with a sweep. Squall slammed the door behind him and stood before Kurt with an angry face. 

"Never EVER throw my door open again." Squall demanded. Kurt just sank deeper into the bowls of Squall's room as he stalked him. 

"I just came to tell you that dinner was ready." He said with a little smile. 

"We already know that." Squall said as he crossed his arms. 

"We? She's staying for dinner?" Kurt questioned, sounding almost disgusted as he nodded towards Rinoa, her head still turned up. 

"Her name is Rinoa. I suggest you apologize considering you slammed the door into her face." He said with a deep glare. 

"Sorry Rinoa." Kurt apologized. Rinoa unsteadily let go of her, now, not bleeding nose. 

"It's alright. You can't see threw walls, you didn't know I was there. Unless you can see threw walls then I would have to hurt you." Rinoa warned with a smile. Kurt rolled his eyes and whispered in Squall's ear. 

"You've got one crazy ass girlfriend on your ass there, Squall." Kurt said, knowing that would piss Squall off to the very core. 

"You little..." Squall glared. There was total silence as Rinoa stared on, confused. Squall suddenly grabbed Kurt waist, lifted him over his head and was about to throw him out his door until a man in his late teens stepped in the way of it. 

"Mom's getting annoyed. Come now." He demanded in a deep and rough voice. His eyes diverted to Rinoa. "Company? Does Mom know?" He asked, looking to Squall. He nodded as he tossed Kurt onto the floor with a thud. He stepped into the room and Rinoa received a better view of him. He was tall, dark and handsome. The perfect dreamboat. It was like in those romance movies, the person is so good looking but with a tortured past and a mean spirit. 

"Hello. I'm Rinoa Heartily." Rinoa greeted in a friendly manner as she stood, offering her hand to him. He shook it with a strong grip. "I'm one of Squall's friends." She told him, averting her eyes to Squall who was trying to fend off Kurt from his scratching fingers while simultaneously listening to their conversation. 

"I thought as much. I'm Wes, their older brother." He answered, releasing her hand from his. 

"Hello!?! It's called dinner!" A feminine voice screamed from down stairs. 

"Now she's pissed." Squall mumbled everyone raced out the door but Squall stayed behind to wait for Rinoa. She stood and walked out with him. 

"You like them?" He whispered into her ear. 

"They're funny." She commented. "My family is nothing like this, so this is a treat for me." Rinoa commented with a giggle. 

"I'm glad." He said with a smile. 

They made their way down stairs and into the kitchen. As they stepped near the table Squall stepped in front of Rinoa and pulled a chair out for her with one quick smooth hand motion. 

"Whoo whoo!" Kurt said, muffled behind his napkin. Squall gave him a death glare. 

"Mom, Dad." Squall began, looking to both of his parents. Rinoa followed his gaze to both of them. "This is Rinoa Heartily. She's one of the new students at Garden High." He greeted. 

"Hello." Rinoa greeted to both of them. 

"Hello Rinoa. So you're one of Squall's new classmates?" His father began. He had long hair to his shoulder and didn't look very old at all. 

"Yeah. I'm in his math class." She answered as the rest of the family began to eat. Rinoa quickly began to feel uncomfortable in her new setting. 

"Math? Maybe you can tutor Squall, Rinoa." His mom chuckled as she pointed a fork to Squall. Rinoa and Squall shared quick glances with a smile. 

After dinner Rinoa decided to go home. She thanked his family for letting her stay for dinner and such and walked to the door with Squall. 

"Thanks for inviting me. I'm kinda glad I didn't end up tutoring you." Rinoa admitted with a laugh as she pushed her bag's strap further up her shoulder. 

"Hehe. Yeah, I'm not sure anyone enjoys tutoring me." He said with a laugh. 

"That's not what I meant. I meant... I didn't want to spend time with you just doing school crap." She told him with a smile as she lightly touched his arm to back her point. The touch sent chills down Squall and even Rinoa was a little shocked she had touched him so awkwardly. There was a bit of silence as her hand slowly crept back to her side. 

"Okay. I'll be going." She said with a sheepish laugh as she opened the door and was about to let herself out until Squall grabbed the door from moving any further. 

"I'll walk you home." He said, stepping out with her. "Be back in a few!" He called back into the house as he closed it behind him. 

They walked in silence for quite aways, the crickets, frogs and their breathing was the only thing keeping the silence from being awkward. 

"Do you like Garden High?" He asked, abruptly. 

"Yeah. It's cool." She admitted, a bit stupefied by the random question. 

"What do you like most?" 

"The people." She answered with a smile as her eyes gave a quick glance to Squall. The distance between the two began to close as a comfortable feeling accompanied them. The stars shown brighter than ever because of the low amount of light pollution. They came to the front of Rinoa's house and Squall turned to her with a smile. 

They stared for a bit into each other's eyes, totally confused and lost. After only seconds of time their faces were closer without them even realizing it. She could feel his hands brush against hers ever so delicately. Her breasts gently pushed against his chest as their eyes slowly began to close in on themselves, ready for what was to come. 

Rinoa wanted this more than anything. His touch. The soft feel of him. The taste of him. She wanted to hold his hand, sleep on his shoulder the stuff that couples do. They weren't a couple though. And kissing was what couples did... They weren't supposed to kiss. 

Just as their lips were to touch, Rinoa pulled away abruptly, backing herself into a post by accident. 

"I've got to go." She mumbled as she flung the door open and tossed herself inside. Squall stood out there, his eyes on the door. He bit his bottom lip tenderly and turned away, knowing she wasn't going to come out again after that. 

"Fuck!" He cursed as he kicked a nearby wall in rage as he walked off. 

Rinoa leaned against the front door as she heard him curse loudly. She took a deep breath and placed a hand against her chest. She reached her other hand up and touched her bottom delicately. 

"What if I had?" She wondered. '... but I didn't. For the better. That stuff is meant for boyfriend and girlfriend. Not for two lusting 15 year olds...' She proclaimed as she walked up stairs to her bedroom, ready to sleep off the experience.... 

********************** 

Preview of Next Chapter: Yet ANOTHER new student arrives... this time a boy. But will this boy be problematic like the rest? And things haven't been looking to good for Squall and Rinoa lately... but can they work things out? And announcements have been made regarding prizes for the Summer Festival winners... and they're pretty damn good to, will the gang join Zell's group now? And just what are Zell and Selphie planning for their group... something sinisterly embarrassing or something unforgettably brilliant? *shifty eyes*

In The Next Chapter!! **The Untouchable Pear** _and _**March Towards Victory**

**IMPORTANT!!! PLEASE tell me what you think of the new chapter design! If you don't like it, I'll go back to the way I was doing it. If you do like it, I'll keep doing it this way.**

P.S. The reason for the extra long delay was not just the long chapter. I went to Disneyland for 4 days with my friends. Just needed to clear that up.... oh! The funniest things happened... but I'll save those experiences for another chapter.

Toodles! 


	5. The Untouchable Pear

Chapter FIVE

A/n: I'm starting a new story... it's PROBABLY going to be called 'This is Garden'. I've just decided right now that I'm gonna start a whole line of Squinoa's with the title of 'Garden' in it... hmmm... I think I drank a bit to much coffee from Starbucks...

'This is so awkward....' Rinoa thought as she rubbed the tip of her skirt gently. It was lunch time and Squall and Rinoa were sitting across from each other. They were both purposely avoiding eye contact with one another. 'The whole damn day was awkward... in math he wouldn't say hi to me... well, neither would I but that's beside the point. Then now... I wish it was cool between us...'

Squall gulped lightly as the others chatted amongst themselves. The only people who weren't talking were Squall and Rinoa. It seemed like the noise outside of them was cut off. The only noise: Their tiny breaths and their soft shuffling. 'Do something... Do something... you messed things up, now you must be the one to mend.' He concluded.

"I'm so stupid!" Squall cried. Rinoa looked up to him in surprise, along with everyone else. They had stopped their conversation to listen to him. He looked to all of them and blushed. "Sorry." He apologized to everyone, and they went back to talking. Rinoa didn't though. She stared right at him. She knew the random remark was for her. He bent forward towards so he could whisper but he came a little to close for comfort and Rinoa backed off. He sighed, as it only reminded him of the things he had damaged. "I'm really sorry Rin. I don't know what came over me." He confessed. "It was so stupid of me..." He apologized. He waited for her to say something, anything. "Please forgive me. I'll never do it again!" He begged. She still didn't say anything. "Please say something." He begged, becoming worried that he had only made things worse.

"I have to go." Rinoa mumbled as she picked up her bag, grabbed her lunch and walked away as fast as she could.

"Ahhh..." Squall mumbled as anger and frustration built themselves up inside of him. "Fuck!" He screamed and slammed his fist down intot he grass....

**Chapter FIVE: The Untouchable Pear**

"Oh? What's this?" Fujin questioned as she peered out the window of her 'fortress of doom' (also known as room 105). Her little eye was peaking out the little slit in the blinds, her finger propping up a blind. The room was completely dark and three shadowy figures stood behind her.

"What's happening?" A female voice asked. 

"Rinoa seems to be leaving in a mad speed walk... she was just talking to Squall... who just swore..." Fujin reiterated. "NYHAHA!" Fujin laughed wickedly as evil flames shot up around her. "They're in a fight. I can see it. Now's my time to strike!" She said wickedly. "FIRST!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, causing the three figures to jump considerably. "I shall comfort Squall and I'll be all like 'I'm so sorry! It wouldn't have worked out.' SECOND!! I shall become Squall's girlfriend. THIRD!! We shall go to Rinoa and we'll be like 'We're a couple a now!' and then Rinoa will be miserable! FOURTH!! I shall find Rinoa alone, desperate and depressed out on the streets and when I go to her I'll be like 'Gosh, I'm so sorry!' and give her a pat on the head. THEN MY VICTORY SHALL BE COMPLETE!!" She screamed with malevolence. 

"I think you're reading a bit to much into this, Fuji." A sweet voice commented. 

"Don't call me that nickname when we're in our fortress of DOOM!" Fujin demanded. 

"Sorry, Fujin. But, really, the chance of Rinoa or you getting Squall is pretty slim." The voice reminded. 

"What!? Yuki! Flip the lights on. I have to get up all in Xu's face and possibly say some 'Yo Momma' jokes... stand back." Yuki flipped the lights on. Revealing the tall, but short haired Xu, Seifer and Yuki. "I WILL get Squall!" Fujin said like a demon spawn.

"Fuji, lets think about this logically. You've never gotten Squall to look at you like that, ever. You've known him since fourth grade. I doubt that you being more touchy feely is going to have Squall clambering all over you." Xu said.

"Then what do you suppose I do?" She asked.

"Nothing! Give up. It's over! Squall's a lone wolf." Xu said majestically as she saluted to his pride.

"There called hormones. He wants me... I see it in his eyes." Fujin reminded her as she pointed to her own two eyes to back her point.

"I don't trust your 'eye reading' skills." Yuki said with a frown.

"Yeah... like when you thought that a baby was a vampire." Seifer reminded her with a shake of his head. 

"It was! It had fangs!" Fujin backed.

"No! It didn't! And Squall doesn't want you!" Xu told her sternly. Fujin just glared at her malevolently as a fire burned in her eyes.

"You are banished from the Fortress of Doom!" Fujin screamed and pointed to the door with a strict finger. Xu walked out, not caring much. Xu was about to walk down the hall as the door slammed shut behind her. She walked for a bit, stopped and waited. She heard the door crash open and the pitter-patter of Fujin's feet came racing for her. She dove for Xu's back, but miscalculated the launch time. Fujin missed her initial target and skidded along the floor with a horrible squeaking noise. Once she recovered, she pulled herself with her arms across the floor until she was at Xu's ankles. Fujin wrapped her arms around Xu's ankles. "I'm so sorry! Will you ever forgive me!" She cried, hopeless as tears streamed down her face. Seifer and Yuki poked their heads out the door to catch a glimpse of the happenings. 

"Of course I will!" Xu said with a tender smile. It was a smile you gave to a toddler. Xu bent down and picked Fujin up in her arms like a teddy bear. "OH!" Xu squealed with delight. "You're so cute!!" She cried as her voice increased in pitch. She hugged Fujin to her face and nuzzled. Fujin only frowned. The nuzzling continued. Fujin became mad. The nuzzling only persisted. Fujin became pissed. The nuzzling continued. Fujin bit Xu in the arm. "OUCH!" Xu screamed in pain as she dropped Fujin to the floor. Fujin fell like a rag doll, looking satisfied with her accomplishment. "Dang..." She continued as she rubbed the mark. There was no blood but it still hurt like a bitch. "Every rose has its thorn I guess." She reminded herself as she watched Fujin stand. 

"Yes. And that thorn just bit you in the wrist." Fujin commented. "Now come. We plot more." She demanded as she took Xu's hand in hers and led her back to the 'Fortress of Doom'. The two others quickly pulled themselves back into the Fortress. 

Squall stepped into the hallway of school. No one was there at the moment as it was lunch. He stepped in a bit further, the sounds of his boots clicking against the linoleum floor. The echo which reverberated from them echoed emptily throughout the silent hall. He stepped into the very middle of the hallway and looked down both ways once more. Still there was no sign of Rinoa. 

"Where did you go?" He mumbled as he rubbed his chin as if it was provoking his thoughts. He got no ideas and sighed heavily. He was on a mission, he was going to find her. However, as he began to walk for the Gym he remembered that some of the girls lockers were upstairs. He smirked, thinking he was so crafty. He turned around and headed for the stair case. 

Rinoa sighed heavily as she placed her bag lunch into her locker. She had barely eaten any of it. She was feeling to sick to even look at it with the smallest amount of appetite. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, her hands pulling down her short skirt as to not show her panties to some perverse boy. She was hunched over a little and her face was melancholy. 

'What am I going to do?' She asked herself as her face sunk even more than it had. 'Just keep running away from him? Why am I running? It was so harmless... he even apologized. What more am I looking for? Am I looking for anything? What's wrong with me? So many questions and no answers...' She thought depressingly. She knew she was only making herself feel like this, but she couldn't help it. 

"Rinoa!?" A strong voice called from the stair well. 

"Squall..." She whispered under her breath, she immediately stood and looked to the stairs. She saw his brunette hair bounce lightly as he took each step up. 'Panic mode engaged!' Rinoa's mind screamed to her. She wished to high heaven that she didn't think that. When 'Panic mode' engaged she usually found herself in an embarrassing situation. 

She threw herself into her locker and closed it as lightly as she could, not wanting Squall to hear. Her breathing was heavy as she saw Squall's figure walk by through the four little slits on the top of her locker. 

She sighed with relief, but that didn't last long as she realized she had trapped herself inside her own locker. She pushed on the door, hoping it would give but it didn't. 

"Oh shit." Rinoa exclaimed, her wide with pure horror as she began to rattle on the locker. "SQUALL!!!" She screamed, pressing her mouth to the little slits. "Squall! Help!" She cried again. 

"Rinoa!?" Squall called back. He turned around and looked down to where the sounds origin was. There was no one. "Rinoa?" He asked to the air, checking to make sure he had heard it and wasn't crazy. 

"I'm in my locker!" She cried back as she banged on it a few times. 

"What the... your locker!" He exclaimed as he ran to the banging noises. He peered inside the little slits and found that Rinoa was staring back at him, worried and scared. "I'll get you out..." He said as he looked down towards the dial. "What's your combination?" He asked, ready to turn the knob to the appropriate numbers. 

"I don't really want to give the numbers to you... but given the circumstances..." She mumbled. 

"Do you want to be stuck in there all day?" Squall asked, looking up to her with an irritated look on his face. 

"No! 23, 7, 9." She called out quickly. He undid the lock and the locker door opened and Rinoa fell out. It all happened in sloooow motion. Rinoa's arms reached forward, bracing for impact with Squall. Squall stepped back an inch or two, afraid of the collision. Realizing he couldn't avoid it he brought up his hands up, to catch her. She fell into his awaiting arms and her hands pressed against his chest. Her head softly landed against his uniform, below his neck. His hands didn't do things so gracefully. While his left arm caught her around the back, his right caught her breast. 

Rinoa became a dear in headlights as she felt the pressure against her breast. She looked up to Squall, to see if he had any explanation. He only stared back with the same look. They were both totally bewildered. They stayed like that, in the same position for minutes. Questions racing through their minds. What do I say when I let go? Is this going to be the friendship killer? 

Squall was the first to move. He stepped back a bit, releasing Rinoa's breast from his hand's touch. Rinoa pulled her hands from his chest awkwardly and they both stepped back. Rinoa immediately shot her look to the floor while Squall's eyes were on her. 

"We just totally screwed everything over, didn't we?" Rinoa joked uncomfortably with a fake smile. 

"Almost." Squall said, going along with her bizarre humor. "We can still apologize." He said, wanting that more than anything else. 

"Sorry... times three." She said with a smile. 

"Times three?" Squall questioned, wanting her to elaborate. 

"Yeah. One for now, one for leaving when you were trying to apologize and the third for... last night." Rinoa told him with a smile. 

"Sorry. About everything." Squall apologized with a sheepish smile. "I think I need some explaining to do." He said with a laugh. 

"Lets take a seat... I have food left over from lunch. Do you want any?" Rinoa asked as she took a seat in front of her locker and Squall across from her. She pulled her lunch bag out from behind her and fished through it, pulling a pear out. She held it delicately, afraid it would bruise. 

"I'm fine." He insisted. She nodded and placed the bag aside, placing the pear carefully inside. "I... I want explain my actions for last night... I really do want to." Squall began as his gaze diverted from Rinoa to the floor. "... but I can't. I... just umm..." He stuttered as his face turned red with embarrassment. "Dammit... it's so hard to explain." He wheezed, like he was about to cry from frustration. 

"Squall. I have a question." Rinoa began as she stood up. His gaze followed her. She looked down at him with a serious face. "If you had kissed me then... would that have satisfied you?" She asked. The question came off odd to Squall and he stood up with a push. 

"What are you saying?" He asked. 

"If... if you kissed me right now. Could we put this all behind us? It was an attempted kiss that caused this... a real kiss could end this." She thought wisely. His heart began to race as did hers. Was she really asking him to kiss her? 

"Do you want me to kiss you?" Squall asked, flabbergasted. 

"I'm doing this for the sake of friendship. I don't want to lose a friend to a kiss that could have happened." She told him. "And... I just realized something. This wouldn't have happened if it weren't for me. If I had just accepted the kiss and not came back into reality." She said, feeling guilty. 

"If you did accept the kiss... then things would be a lot different. They could be worse, or better. Don't feel guilty. You're choice was right, all choices in life are right." Squall assured as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She giggled a bit from his comment and he smiled, seeing her true humor shine through. 

"That line's so clichéd." She said, looking to his eyes. 

"Everything we do seems to be clichéd." Squall observed. She smiled at his comment but it fell when she knew the time had come to embrace what had to be done. Their hearts raced once more as Squall's hand slid down her arm and to his side. 

"Do you really want me to kiss you?" He asked, his voice not shocked or scared. 

"Yes. I know you want to to." She said observantly. He stepped closer to her and he seemingly towered over her. Their heart beats only grew in speed. 

"Ready?" He asked with a gulp. 

"Yeah. Are you?" She asked, noticing his tiny trembling. "You're trembling." She said. 

"So are you." He pointed out as his faces came closer to hers. As they look into each others eyes they realized that this was their first kiss. They were afraid and excited. Their trembling hands brushed each other delicately as Squall bent in, his eyes closed. Rinoa finally let logic rest and emotions run. She let his lips press against hers tenderly... 

"Would you relax, Fujin?" Xu asked as she opened the door of their fortress of doom. "I'm just going to talk to Mr. Foster about an extra credit assignment." Xu reassured the worried Fujin. 

"Come back quickly!" Fujin called hopelessly. 

"Back in a few!" Xu said with a wink. She closed the door and left, walking for the stairwell. "She's like another mother." Xu complained as she hopped up the stairs with a nice little run. She reached the second floor and looked up from her view of the steps and down the hall. Her mouth gaped open as she found Squall and Rinoa together, their lips locked, their eyes closed. She looked on with sad eyes. Not at the fact that they were kissing, no. It was about Fujin. 

'Her little heart would be torn to pieces...' She said as she bit her lip as she turned from the scene and sat on the staircase, pondering her next move. She wanted, and needed, to pass them to get to her destination. She didn't know how to get there though. She turned around to see if they were done, but they weren't. 

Squall's lips tingled with pure ecstasy. He wanted more, so much more. He didn't push though. It would be an idiotic move to. This kiss wasn't even formal... it was an apology kiss. But still, his lips and heart earned for more of her. He didn't dare move the slightest inch, afraid Rinoa would come back to reality and run away. She didn't and they remained still. 

Rinoa wasn't sure what to do. She could tell Squall hungered for more... but things would just end up being all the more uncomfortable. Maybe the kiss was a bad idea? She tried to push all thoughts from her mind and let her emotions take the reins. They were doing a pretty good job, as it was the first time in her life she was letting this happen. 

Feeling brave, Rinoa gently placed her hands against Squall's waist. The soft touch made Rinoa only long for his touch. She wanted to remove her hands from him, but she found she just couldn't. She wanted the feel of his t-shirt against her finger tips... she wanted to touch him. 

"This is going to be perfect for the manga." A boy with short brunette hair whispered as he continued to draw the two kissing strangers down the hall from him. He was sitting on the stair case, hunched over his doodling pad. He was sketching vigorously, hoping to capture them perfectly. He finished and signed it, Nida Okiwura. "Thanks strangers." He said with a playful smile as he stood and saluted them with a limp hand. He left up the stair case to the third floor... 

Xu still sat there on the stairs, pondering what to do. Her thoughts were to continue until a face appeared in front of her view. It was Seifer's. She cursed silently as this was the last person she'd want to see this scene. 

"Fujin's been wondering-oh my god." Seifer said abruptly as he saw the two. He covered his mouth in total shock, then began to stifle a laugh. 

"Shut up!" Xu cried as she jumped to him. She collided with him, but a bit to hard. Seifer toppled over and down the stair, Xu rolling with him the whole way. 

"Ow!" Seifer cried. Xu smashed another hand over his mouth. 

"Just shut up!" She commanded. "I don't want anyone to know about this except the two of us, got it?" She said venomously as her hand began to press down harder on his mouth. He nodded vigorously, for afraid of getting his mouth shoved into the back of his neck. She let go of his mouth and stared at him with irritated eyes. 

"So this is what you two do when you leave..." Fujin's voice said. They both looked up and found Fujin... then they realized what position they were in. Xu was on top of Seifer... 

_Author's Break/MASTER PLAN: Does anyone know what doujinshi is? If you do, then listen up! There is a SERIOUS lack of of non-yaoi/yuri FF8 doujinshi out there on the net.... and I'm getting pissed. That's all... If you know of any good web doujinshi then give me a holler! I'm gonna start a new story. I'll be continuing this while writing the other... I'm taking a break from When the Sky is High. Mainly to get my happier side out of me... that story is kind of dark and dreary. Here's the summary for my new story, This is Garden..._

_Summary: AU! Balamb Garden is in its final stages of construction and students are already taking classes. Squall, a loner 17 year old with immaculate grades, is asked to show 15 year old, Rinoa Heartily, around... SQUINOA_

_Please tell me if it sounds the least bit intriguing. I need a good summary to hook the readers in!_

**_Now... Go Get Something to Eat/Drink and Come Right Back! The Second Part Is Just Ahead (Surprise, surprise!) _**

**Chapter FIVE, part TWO: March Towards Victory_//_The Hybrid Rainbow**

Squall sat in front of his computer, trying to concentrate on Zell's mindless internet gabber. All day, Squall was in a fluster after his first kiss. He knew it meant nothing and felt childish and immature for feeling like this. He knew Rinoa was being mature about the subject and treating like a simple apology. 

Finally, Zell got annoyed of how quiet Squall was being by not answering his messages. He sent him a long complaint list with caps lock on. Squall didn't pay much attention, just caught a few words which said 'Pay attention' and 'Dick head'. Squall didn't care much and sent back 'Whatever' and signed off. Just as Squall turned away from the computer, a telephone call came. He answered, he knew who it was. 

"You don't just SIGN OFF!" Zell's angry voice came through. 

"Hi Zell." Squall greeted politely as he threw himself onto his bed. 

"Why did you sign off?" Zell demanded, like an offended wife. 

"'Cause you don't shut up... plus I was just thinking." He replied. 

"Thinking? About what?" Zell asked, hanging his sentence as he pondered. "About condoms?" He asked. Squall mumbled incoherently, but ignored it. 

"Just thinking." Squall answered lamely. 

"That's all?" 

"Yeah." 

"Really?" 

"Yes!" 

"When?" 

"Now." 

"Why?" 

"'Cause." Squall's answers weren't coming out as fast he'd like. He knew Zell was getting all the more suspicious with every answer. 

"Rinoa?" Zell asked totally abruptly. 

"Yeah." Squall answered, not even realizing he had blurted that out. There was silence over the phone and Squall finally understood what he had said. 

"MWHAHA!! My voodoo powers!" Zell laughed wickedly. 

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Squall asked, trying to act like nothing happened. 

"You two are dating, yes yes?" Zell asked excitedly, his words stringing together. 

"No!" Squall cried confidently. 

"... you were just thinking about her?" He asked, afraid that would be the answer. 

"Yeah." It was lie, but Squall didn't care... as long as Zell bought it. 

"Lame!" Zell cried, agitated. 

"Sorry my life isn't a soap opera." Squall apologized sarcastically. However, the more he thought about it his life was like a teenage version of 'Days of Our Lives'. 

"You should be. Anyways!" Zell began. "We should do something this weekend, like a party with the girls or somethin'." Zell suggested. Squall paused to think but the 'flash' button began to blink and beep. 

"Hold on Zell, I have another call." Squall apologized. He flashed to the other line. "Hello?" He began. 

"Dude! I've got awesome news!" The hyper active voice cried, it was Selphie's.... 

**Chapter FIVE part TWO: March Towards Victory**

"Just tell us Squall!" Quistis and Rinoa begged to Squall during lunch. The three were the first ones to arrive. 

"What did she say?" Rinoa asked pleading. 

"Why do you care so much?" Squall asked, amused. 

"'Cause." She answered lamely. 

"Hmm... fine. She called me... she called me... dude!" He said with fake melodrama. Quistis smacked him on the back of the head. 

"Tell us Squall!" She demanded with an angry scowl. 

"It wasn't all that interesting..." He mumbled. He really didn't want to tell them. 

"You're impossible." Rinoa mumbled as she turned away from him. 

"The more we grovel, the tighter his resolve to not tell us is." Quistis noted. 

"Exactly." Squall smirked. 

"Whatever." Rinoa said and sat down and pulled out her lunch. 

"That weird reverse psychology won't work on me!" Squall warned as he tapped his head, pushing the point home. 

"I really just don't care anymore. We've been groveling for-what?-like... 10 minutes already! Whatever you have to tell us can't be that important." Rinoa noted. 

"True." Squall mumbled. Rinoa flashed a secret smirk to Quistis who winked back. "Yeah, so... Selphie called last night and she told me that there were prizes being offered for the Summer Festival." Squall told them, sounding not very enthused on the subject he once was. 

"Really!?" Rinoa exclaimed, spitting her drink all over the lawn in sheer shock. She mentally pummeled herself for not joining earlier. 

"Like what kinds of prizes?" Quistis asked, very intrigued. 

"So NOW you're all interested!" Squall said with a cocky laugh. Quistis grabbed his collar and brought him close to her face. 

"If you don't tell us I will crush your dick into a pancake and feed it to coyotes! I've been begging to long for crap!" She warned with a venomous tone. She threw him off and he bounced a bit against the grass. Rinoa just stared on at Quistis, her mouth hanging open in pure shock. 

"Holy crap." Squall mumbled. Quistis just stared Squall down with a piercing gaze that could cause a rose to wilt and then explode. "Well uhh... she said that for the winners they'd get the chance to choose the class trip, which is just after summer break. The group also gets the chance to put their uniforms away for a week and wear whatever they want." He finished. The girl's mouths dropped. 

"Where's Zell!?" Rinoa yelled determined. 

"Lets hunt him down!" Quistis proclaimed. Squall stood as well, to help them in their quest. They sprinted for the door as the 'Mission Impossible' theme played. They were about to bust through the door to the school, when it came flying at them. It was Selphie and Zell. The door smashed Rinoa in the face and Quistis on the forehead. 

They flew back, past Squall (who was unscathed) and onto the grass. 

"OW! Dammit! Not again!" Rinoa cried in annoyance and pain as she held her bleeding nose. 

"Where am I?" Quistis asked, looking around, perplexed. 

"You told them, didn't you?" Zell asked, looking to Squall. 

"Yeah. Sorry." He apologized. 

"Who cares? More people? All the better!" Selphie cheered. She walked up to her friends and kneeled down next to them. 

"Do you want to join?" She asked, looking between the two. They nodded vigorously. "Excellent." She said with a smile as she offered a hand to them. They took it and they stood. 

"Lets go to the 'Fortress of Hybrid Rainbows'!" Zell proclaimed dramatically. Selphie cheered and danced about, working her way towards him. 

"What?" Squall questioned. 

"It's actually room 106. It's where we organize ideas for the Summer Festival." Zell whispered. 

"Rainbows!!" Selphie cheered as she skipped inside the building, making her way to 'The Fortress of Hybrid Rainbows'. 

"That's a dumb name." Quistis mumbled as she and Rinoa entered after Selphie. 

"Shut up!" Zell commanded. "Hybrid is my favorite word and Rainbows are Selphie favorite things." Zell mumbled as they followed the girls. 

"How big is your group so far?" Squall asked as Zell held the door open for him to enter. 

"Just you guys." Zell said with a smile. They entered the room. It was pitch black. 

"What's going on?" Rinoa asked from the black silence. Suddenly a flash light flicked on. It was at the head of the class. It was Zell's face, looking quite creepy due to the light's odd angle. 

"Mwhahaha..." He laughed evilly, yet quietly. "Welcome to Hybrid Rainbow. The group dedicated to win the Summer Festival." He said. "Welcome Rinoa-chan. Welcome Quistis-chan. Welcome Squallu-kun." Zell welcomed. "I am Zellu-sama... and this is my lovely assistant, Selphie-sama." 'Zellu-sama' stated. Suddenly, the lights began to flicker. Selphie was flicking the switch. 

"Good day everyone!" She cried with joy as she stopped the flickering and turned it on. "Let's begin our meeting." She proclaimed as she clapped her hands together. Zell flicked off his flashlight and tossed it on the table next to him. The two pushed 5 desks in a circle and everyone took a seat. 

"Neat." Rinoa said with a smile as she smoothed out her skirt. 

"Thanks." Zell said with a pleased smile. "Now. What shall we do for the Summer Festival?" Zell asked, looking to them all. He got right to the point, not wasting time. 

"You haven't even decided that!?" Squall exclaimed in shock at how unorganized they were. 

"Well... no." Selphie mumbled as she looked to the floor. 

"Lets figure something out." Rinoa suggested, trying to pull the pressure from Zell and Selphie. 

"Hmmm" Quistis mumbled in thought. She rubbed her chin as her eyes narrowed trying to decide. 

"How about a dinner show?" Squall suggested. 

"Like... where people eat while we perform?" Rinoa asked. 

"We don't have that kind of funding. The food would be expensive." Selphie reminded him. 

"How about play!" Quistis exclaimed. They all gave her odd looks, except Zell who accepted the idea whole heartedly. 

"Perfect!" He exclaimed. Everyone looked to him. "We've got pretty girls..." He looked to Selphie and Rinoa. Selphie blushed and giggled but Rinoa was confused. 

"Me!?" She exclaimed questionably. Zell ignored her and continued. 

"People who can write..." He looked to Quistis. She smiled. 

"And two male heartthrobs!" Selphie exclaimed with a smile. Squall rolled his eyes and Zell blew a kiss to her. 

"That's great and all, but what about costume and set designer?" Rinoa asked, spoiling everyone's fun by accident. 

"Dammit. Forgot about that." Zell cursed as he snapped his fingers. "Crap. We're on a tight schedule so if we don't find anyone who can do those things, we're going to have abort the project." Zell warned. Everyone nodded. The mission was now to find someone who could draw. 

"I don't know know anyone who can draw/design though. Do you guys know anyone?" Selphie asked, looking to each of them. 

"There must be someone in our school who can do that kind of stuff. Even if it sucks." Squall reminded. 

"Well, if we were going for 'sucky' stuff then we can just let Rinoa handle it." Zell told him with a sneer. 

"Hey!" Rinoa cried with a scowl. 

"Lets get searching' right now." Selphie proclaimed as she stood from her desk triumphantly. 

"Right!" They all cried, determined. 

"Squallu-kun, you go with Rinoa-chan and Quistis-chan!" Zell declared. "Selphie-sama, come with me!" He demanded and they bolted out the door. The three shrugged but walked out of the classroom and stood out in the hall to ponder. 

"Rinoa, if you were a really good drawer person, where would you be?" Squall asked, looking to her. 

"Hmmm... if I liked it? I'd be on the roof because it has the prettiest view and-" She couldn't finish her sentence as the two grabbed her hands and dragged her off to the roof. 

They reached reached the roof and looked about. The sun bright and felt like it was pounding down on them like a ton of bricks. 

"Okay. Maybe an idiot's out here, but not an artist. This heat is unbearable!" Quistis cried as she wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead. 

"Maybe there's shade somewhere here." Rinoa suggested as she moved further out onto the roof. They could see the heat rise from the tiles on the roof, it was crazy. 

"Shade!" Squall cried. "Person!" He cried once more. "Drawing!" He screamed with excitement. They all looked to where he was pointing. He was right, a man drawing under the shade. He looked to them out of the corner of his eyes with an indifferent expression. They all ran to him, mainly for the shade. They tossed themselves under the shade and sighed with relief. 

"Who are you people?" The man asked, irritated they had invaded. He had short brunette hair and perfectly tanned skin. "Oh! Wait!" He cried with excitement, a smile replacing his once cold features. "You're those two who were kissing in the hall the other day! I drew a picture of you two, I hope you don't mind." He said with joy as he began to flip through his art book for the picture. 

Squall and Rinoa just stared on with stunned and horrified looks. They thought no one had been watching, and now Quistis knew. They looked back to Quistis, afraid to see her expression. She just stared on at nothing with a blank expression and emotionless eyes. Squall and Rinoa shared glances of insecurity. 

"See? Here it is!" The man exclaimed with pride as he pointed to the picture. They looked at it, afraid. It was really good actually. They looked like a real couple, kissing serenely without a care in the world. It softened Rinoa's heart to see them looking like that. His arm above her head and against the locker and their eyes closed and lips locked. She smiled as she felt her heart beat and breathing quicken. 

Squall bit his lip tenderly trying to feel the kiss once more. Seeing the picture made him want to do it all over again with her. He hadn't realized what they had looked like when they did it, he was to caught up with the fact that he shouldn't move an inch. They looked looked perfect for each other. Squall knew it, but he just couldn't believe it. 

"That picture is awfully good. May I see it?" Quistis asked robotically, devoid of emotion. She looked at it for a few moments, then gave it back to him. "Would you like to join our Summer Festival group? You'd be perfect." She said, still devoid of emotion. The three were starting to get freaked out. 

"Sure! I have nothing better to do." He said with a smile. 

"Except spy on people kissing." Rinoa noted venomously, coming back to the reality. 

"I only do that when the two look like a real couple." He said with a wink and smile to Rinoa. She and Squall blushed and diverted their gaze away. 

"What is your name?" Quistis asked, STILL void of emotions. 

"Nida Okiwura." Nida greeted as he extended a hand to Quistis who shook limply. 

"We're glad to have you as part of our team." Rinoa said with a smile, temporarily forgetting about what had just happened to welcome her team mate. 

"Yes. It'll be fun." Squall said as he extended a hand to shake. He shook it and smiled. 

"I bet." Nida said sincerely as he looked to the three of them. 

"Hey..." Irvine said as he looked about the empty field. He was sitting where they usually ate lunch. "Where IS everyone!?" He exclaimed. 

******************** 

Preview of Next Chapter: Plans are underway for the 'Hybrid Rainbow' team! Things are going well, even though it's just the planning stages. Squall and Rinoa finally corner Quistis, who has been trying to avoid them and she tells them why. Things are going seemingly perfect for Fujin's posse as they decide to join the Summer Festival in hopes to beat out 'Hybrid Rainbow'. And Raijin's unexplained dissapearence is finally explained! *gasp*

In the Next Chapter: **The Hybrid Rainbows part 2 **_and****_**To Tell My Secret Crush**

_Refer to my bio for ANOTHER story summary that I'm writing. It's gonna be MUCH darker. _

WARNING!! The next chapter will contain implied yaoi... but nothing will happen. Trust me! SERIOUSLY!! 


	6. The Hybrid Rainbows Pt2 And The Importa...

Author's WARNING:: This chapter is only going to be half its length (the size of the original chapters). I'm getting tired of writing so much... it feels rushed. So I'm gonna take my time. Thank you. 

By the By... After lots of bitching from people, there will be no yaoi... I wanted to add implied yaoi jokes, but that's not gonna happen anymore, lol. Oh well, Squall and Rinoa should be getting together soon... if all is according to plan. Isn't that right, Mr. Snoobles? MWHAHA! 

**Chapter SIX**

* 

Rinoa woke the next morning to the sound of soft sprinkling on her window sill. She adjusted her eyes to the dark and looked to her clock. It read 3:00 am. She sighed in disgust but sat up anyways. She rubbed her eyes, trying to get them to focus. Once they were she stood, her bear feet soft against the carpet. She walked to the window and opened the blinds. It was raining, just as she had expected. She groaned. She hated rain and she hated the early morning. 

She threw herself down onto her bed with a rare scowl. She sighed and looked around her room for something to do. Her eyes rested on her computer. She smiled as a thought came to her. She stood once more and turned her computer on. She clicked on Word Processor and began to type. 

"Dear Diary..." She began in a light whisper.... 

"Rinoa..." Squall sighed romantically. He felt silly thinking this way, like a hopeless romantic who's just fallen for someone. He was lying down on his bed in his night clothes as he dangled a red rose above his nose, smelling it occasionally. The rain continued outside and he found it relaxing as it began to pound harder and harder against the rooftop. 

'I wonder what Zell would say if I told him... or Irvine... or anyone.' He wondered as he turned over on his side, towards the wall. 'They'd think I'm stupid. Probably because I am. She would never go out with me... even though we technically already did... but that didn't count. I got to kiss her, that should be good enough. Nida said we looked like a real couple when we did it, to. What does Nida know? But... I want more from her. I want to hold her hand. Be with her. Hold her when she's scared. Protect her when she's picked on. Anything... say the word and I'll do it Rinoa. I'd do anything... just be with me.' He thought desperately. Snapping from his thoughts as he thunder crash he sat up. 

"What am I thinking?" Squall whispered harshly to himself as he smacked the rose off his bed and onto the floor. "God... I feel so stupid." He said. He hated himself for feeling like this. Feeling so desperate. He wanted to hurt himself... to bring him back to reality. He clenched his bed sheets tightly and squeezed his eyes shut. "I hate myself." He whispered. He wheezed as tears began to fall. "Don't be so melodramatic you piece of shit." He whispered harshly to himself. He grabbed a pair of scissors and clenched it in his hand. 

'Don't over react...' He whispered silently to himself, trying to ease himself. 

He opened the scissors and cut the top of his hand, creating a short gash across it. 

"Oh fuck... that was stupid, that was stupid, that was stupid, that was stupid, that was stupid, that was stupid." He mumbled as he held his bleeding hand. "You're such a shit." He cried to himself as he ran out of his room and to the bathroom. He let go of his bleeding hand and turned the cold water on. As he lifted his hand away from the faucet he saw all the blood. "So stupid." He mumbled, shaking his head as he placed his hand under the water, letting the blood poor. His hand was trembling, he was scared. "Crazy in love." He mumbled... 

**Chapter SIX: The Hybrid Rainbows Pt.2 // And The Importance of Communication Is...**

"Good morning Squall." Selphie squealed with delight as she sat down next to him on the bus. 

"Where's Rinoa?" He asked, not paying much attention. 

"Hello to you to." Selphie mocked. 

"Sorry." He apologized. 

"It's okay. We know you're madly in love with her." She said with a smile. 

"What!?" He blurted out. "Who said that!?" He yelled, becoming panicked. 

"It was a joke." Selphie said coolly. "Chill." She demanded. Squall sighed in annoyance. 

"Whatever." He said shaking his head. Selphie looked around the bus, everyone was staring at them. She giggled and shooed them away with a flick of her hand. 

"Man, you're a problem tripper." Selphie told him with a low whisper. 

"What does that mean?" He asked, totally perplexed. 

"You start problems in the worst situations." She told him as she turned away from him and to her bag as she began to shuffle through it. 

"I didn't start a problem." Squall reminded her as he waved the back of his hand on her face. 

"Everyone was- What happened!?" Selphie squealed, interrupting herself as she grabbed his hand and looked at the mark. 

"I just cut myself." He told her. He wasn't lying, but it felt like he was. He wanted to tell her that he was so crazy for Rinoa he had cut himself. But then he would sound insane. 

"How?" She asked, curiously as she examined it thoroughly like a nurse would do. 

"With scissors." Squall tried explain hurriedly. 

"Ouch... Looks like it hurt. Did it?" Selphie asked, concerned as she looked him in the eyes. He only stared back. He found himself lost in her eyes... he wanted to reach out and hold her. She reminded him so much of Rinoa. He wanted Selphie to be Rinoa at that very moment. The way she touched him... the way she looked at him. The care in her touch. The purity in her eyes. 

"What?" Selphie asked, a bit offended. 

"Oh sorry. Nothing." Squall apologized with a blush. Selphie just continued to stare at him, concerned and confused. 

"Greetings Selphie." A robotic feminine voice said above them. The two looked up and found Quistis staring down at them. 

"Oh hello Quisty!" Selphie greeted with a big smile. 

"Hi." Squall greeted. 

"Good day, Squall." She said. 

"Quistis has been acting really creepy lately. What the hell is her problem?" Selphie whispered to Squall as Quistis took a seat across from them. Squall found a pang of guilt stab through him. He knew Rinoa and him had caused that bizarre behavior. 

"Me no know." Squall answered stupidly, shrugging. Selphie gave him an estranged look. Squall just smiled. She rolled her eyes and looked away. 'What's so traumatizing about us kissing? Well, it is kind of strange... we've only known each other, what... two weeks? Oh well. Her problem.' Squall concluded. He turned to Quistis, curious to see what she was doing in her robot-stasis. She was looking right at him. He cringed and became shifty eyed. He felt uncomfortable as she continued to stare at him. It's like she was staring right through him. She really WAS a robot. Freaky. 

"Your wife's here." Selphie whispered to Squall. He gave a confused look then found that she was looking at Rinoa who was walking down the bus's aisle. 

"She's not my wife. Go have sex with Zell." Squall whispered back, fiercely. 

"I'd love to. Zell's not ready." Selphie shot back with an evil smirk. Squall turned to her in shock and she laughed evilly, quietly. 

"I hate you." Squall whispered to her and turned to the approaching Rinoa. "Hey Rinoa!" Squall greeted with a wave of his hand. 

"Stuff it, ass!" Rinoa commanded darkly as she took a seat behind them. 

"OOHHH!!! You were told!" Selphie cried, muffling her voice with a hand over her mouth. "Dis!" She cried again with a laugh. Squall just stared at Selphie, blanked faced then kicked her book bag out into the aisle, sending it down to the front of the bus. "Bitch." Selphie cursed as she walked to the front to get it, while receiving scolding from the driver. 

Squall laughed and as he was about to turn around to Rinoa but Quistis caught his eye again. She was still staring. 

"What!?" He cried. "Is there something on my face?" He asked, rubbing his face frantically. She kept staring. "Everyone's out to get me." Squall mumbled as he turned around to the seat behind him. Rinoa sat there, a sour look on her face as she held her stomach. "Hey Rin." He greeted cheerfully, hoping a negative comment wasn't going to smack him in the face. 

"What?" She asked, sounding frustrated. 

"Umm... How are you?" He asked, not sure what to say. 

"Crappy. Piss off." She commanded as she looked away. 

"pms..." Squall mumbled as he was going to turn back around but before he could, her hands latched onto his face, her nails digging into his cheeks and forehead. 

"What did you just say?" Rinoa asked demonically. Squall just laughed nervously, afraid to answer... until he felt her nails dig deeper into his flesh. 

"Nothing!" He cried, lying. 

"Thought so." She said rudely as she tossed him back into his seat. Squall was scared, very scared. Selphie arrived just in time to see him get thrown into the seat. He was wedged deeply into the crack of the seat with a shocked look on his face. 

"What did you say this time?" Selphie asked in a whisper as she sat down next to his uncomfortable body. 

"I just said hi." He confessed, totally amazed she would do that. 

"Pms." Selphie told him in the quietest of whispers. 

"Thought so." He whispered back. The bus came to a stop and Selphie looked out the window. They had arrived at school. 

"School!" She cried with joy. She stood and grabbed Squall's hands and tried to pull him out from his imprisonment. 

"Out of the way." Rinoa's voice came from behind Selphie. Selphie felt a tough shove from the small of her back and she fell into the seat with a little bump. 

"Yeah... it's pms." Selphie agreed with herself to Squall. They both laughed as Squall was finally released... 

"We've called this meeting to order for two reasons." Zell began from the head of the 'Hybrid Rainbows Fortress'. "Reason one: What the hell is this play about? And Reason Two: Who's performing?" Zell began looking to them. 

"I vote for me and Rinoa to be actresses as we have no real value otherwise." Selphie noted as she stood from her desk. 

"Rinoa?" Zell asked, looking to her. 

"Why the - fucking bitch goddamn cock screw monkeys shit - would I mind!?" Rinoa screamed from her seat. Everyone stared on in horror, their mouths gaping. 

"I have the perfect costume design for Rinoa!" Nida cried with joy as he held up a picture. It was of Rinoa in a very smutty, evil looking costume mangling Selphie, Zell, Nida and Squall as she cackled. 

"DIE!!" Rinoa screamed, jumping from her desk and tackling him, tipping his desk over in the process. 

"Rinoa!!" Zell screamed, frustrated. She immediately stopped chewing on Nida's neck and looked to Zell. "That's quite enough from you. Take a seat." He demanded. She let go of Nida's flesh, got off him and sat back in her desk. "To continue with our structured talk... Who's the male role?" Zell asked, looking to everyone. No one moved or answered. No one wanted to be the role. "Squall! Thanks for raising your hand!" Zell lied. 

"But I didn't-" Squall was about to protest until an eraser smacked him in the face. 

"Yes you did!" Zell and Selphie cried in unison. 

"No I didn't!!" Squall screamed. He really, really didn't want to be the lead role. 

* 

"So Master Fujin, how do you plan to go about this crafty plot?" Xu asked as she, Seifer and Yuki all stood at the far end of the classroom while Fujin was at the window, looking out. 

"I'm not to sure where to begin..." Fujin told them, her arms crossed over her chest. "And I'm actually not sure if I'm going to do this plan at all." She admitted. The three at the back of the class fell over anime style. "Don't do that!" Fujin demanded sternly. "I hate it when anime characters do that..." She mumbled. 

"I told you." Yuki reminded, looking to Xu. 

"I didn't know. Seems like the kind of thing she would like." Xu admitted. 

"We had practiced all week for that!" Seifer cried hopelessly. 

"Stop your blubbering!" Fujin demanded as she kicked him in the shin. As Seifer howled in pain she could of sworn she heard something crash in the room over. "Shut up!" She screamed. Everyone stopped what they were doing and froze. Seifer bit his tongue from screaming in pain. Fujin placed her ear against the wall that connected room 105 and 106. She heard Squall's deep voice, then Rinoa's light voice and then Zell's. Fujin smirked evilly. She knew what they were doing. 

"Hmmm..." Fujin mumbled with an evil smirk as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "MWHAHA!!" She laughed all the more evilly as a new and better plan found its way to her.... 

* 

"Rinoa..." Squall began as the two walked out of the school for the bus home. 

"What?" She asked, annoyed. Squall scrapped what he was originally going to say and decided on something more important to say. He stopped and she did as well. He turned to her, his arms crossed. 

"What is your problem today?" He asked, sounding offended. He had wanted to get that off his chest for such a long time. 

"None of your business." She told him coldly as she began to walk away but he got in her way. 

"Yes it is!" He insisted. Rinoa looked at him curiously and was secretly moved by his perseverance. 

"It really isn't." She insisted as she attempted to move past him, but he only blocked her path. 

"Yes it is." He repeated sternly. 

"Fine! Do you really want to know!?" She yelled back in his face. 

"Yeah! I do! If you haven't figured that out already!" Squall yelled back in her face, surprising her a bit. 

"It's about..." She suddenly became quiet and shy. "It's about... this guy." She confessed with a deep blush. She rubbed her arm self-consciously. Squall was taken a back by the news... she liked another guy? He had sort of figured though. She was the most beautiful person here... she must have had lots of followers, attractive followers. She could easily like anyone of them. He decided to stay persistent to the original conversation. 

"So it's not 'That time of the month'?" He asked as he felt himself lighten his defenses. 

"Well, if you must know... it is." She confessed in a whisper. "But... it usually doesn't effect me THAT badly... this time is a little worse though" she said with a laugh. Squall smiled in relief. He didn't want his friend acting like that EVERY month of their life but it still disturbed him to think about her and her period. She stepped closer to him and Squall gave her a confused look. She wrapped her arms around his neck and nestled her forehead into the crook of his neck. The contact made him blush furiously and he found his hands trembling with confusion and delight. 

Rinoa herself was a bit surprised she did that herself. She wanted it to just be a friendly hug... but she imagined it didn't look quite like that. 

"Get a room!" A voice called from somewhere. They laughed uneasily as she released him. 

"Sorry. I just wanted to thank you for uhh... actually caring about me." She confessed as her blush increased. 

"Anytime." Squall said, equally embarrassed. 

"I still might be a little pissy... but this definitely calmed me down." Rinoa told him. Squall smiled, knowing he had done something right. 

"Well. I want to have the old cheerful Rinoa back." Squall told her. 

"You got her." She said with a laugh. For some strange reason, Squall felt like they were a couple with those words. Squall had Rinoa... it sounded so childish, but cute. "That reminds me! Something's up with Quistis." Rinoa told him. Squall rolled his eyes. "You've noticed?" She asked. 

"Yeah. She's been really creepy lately." He said. 

"You know why... don't you?" She asked looking at him with a smile. 

"We both know." He reminded. 

"Lets go find her. We started her creepiness, we can end it." Rinoa said dramatically and heroically. "We're off to vanquish the evil in Quistis!" Rinoa said as the two marched back into school to find their target. 

"Where do you think she'd be?" Squall asked, looking about the main hall. Students were taking their time chatting with friends and getting stuff from their lockers, it was after school so there was no rush. 

"I have no idea." Rinoa confessed sadly. "Well... I don't know where the new Quistis would hang out but I do know where the old would." Rinoa said with a smirk. 

"Where?" Squall asked, curious. 

"Follow." She commanded coolly as she walked for the stairs.... 

* 

Nida opened the heavy door to the roof of Garden and stepped out onto it. The sun was light and not nearly as heavy as the last times he had been out. He sighed with relief as he walked for his usual spot but was surprised to found it taken up by Quistis. She sat with her back against the wall, her legs stretched out and her hands placed politely in her lap. Her face was straight with no emotion as her eyes showed no focus at all. 

"I'm sorry... I didn't know this spot was already taken." Nida apologized. He was about to turn away to look for another spot until her voice caught him. 

"Why are you looking for another spot?" She asked, her voice now devoid of the robotic style it once had. 

"Because you've taken the spot I had wanted, so now I'm looking for another one." Nida answered. He found this conversation fruitless. 

"Couldn't you have just taken a seat next to me?" She questioned, still not giving him eye contact. 

"I thought you wanted privacy." He noted, coming closer to Quistis feeling he was being invited to sit next to her. 

"You don't know until you ask." Quistis reminded him. "Sit. I'm foreign to this place, you're not." She said, moving over a little bit to make room for him. Nida just stood there, clutching his drawing book to him, staring at Quistis. She looked up to him. Her eyes were big, blue and seemingly empty. "Sit." She repeated. 

"You don't want me to sit, do you?" He asked. "You just want to be polite." 

"Just sit." She commanded, feeling frustrated. 

"I can hear it in the way you talk, the way you express your face. You don't want me to sit." Nida pointed out. 

"Would you just sit down!? Why make things more complicated then they already are?" Quistis exclaimed annoyed as she turned her whole body to him. He smiled and sat down, his back facing her. "You're a strange one." She said with a laugh. That was her first laugh in awhile and Nida took quick notice of it. 

"You've been acting strangely for awhile." Nida said, referring to the laugh. 

"I know." She said, making it obvious. 

"Why?" He asked bluntly. 

"You know about what Squall and Rinoa did, right?" Quistis asked, just making sure. 

"Yeah. I told you about it, so you'd think I'd know." 

"Sorry." Quistis apologized fruitlessly. "Anyways... I've been kind of upset even before that started. That news just kind of sent me over the edge." Quistis mumbled as she fiddled with the tip of her skirt. 

"Oh?" Nida questioned, curious. Quistis moved herself so that her back was touching Nida's back and their heads were supporting each other gently. 

"Yeah." She said lamely and quietly. 

"What happened?" He asked. 

"Well, this going to feel awkward, but I'll tell you anyways." She said with a laugh. "I saw Zell and Selphie kissing after school behind the school. I had gone to get my supplies for Gym, when I saw them. I didn't tell them I did though, I thought it would cause to much trouble." She confessed. 

"That's why you've been quiet?" Nida asked, flabbergasted if that was the reason. 

"No. It's not that." Quistis said as she elbowed him playfully in the arm. "It's the fact that, four days after that incident I learn that they had been dating for quite some time now!" She cried in annoyance. "Everyone knew. Even Squall. I was pushed out of the circle, not one to know or one who needs to know." She said sadly. "Then now with this whole Rinoa and Squall as an item business... I don't even feel like my friends are paying attention to me anymore." She said softly and depressingly. 

"Come to think of it... I don't even think Squall and Rinoa are an item." Nida pointed out. 

"What!?" Quistis exclaimed, shocked as she turned to him. 

"Yeah. If they were together it would seem most logical to tell their friends, which they have not." Nida pointed out. "And even if you were in the 'outer circle', which you are not, you'd still hear about it just like you heard about Zell and Selphie." He figured. 

"True." She admitted. 

"I'm sure Zell and Selphie had their reasons. Ask them about it. Being mad doesn't solve anything. Confront a problem to its face and not to its back with your head turned." He said wisely. "I also suggest that you apologize to Squall and Rinoa." He advised. "They've been wondering." He noted. He stood just as the two heard the door open. 

"Wait! But what am I supposed to say to them?" Quistis whispered, hoping the approaching people weren't Squall and Rinoa. 

"'The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.'" He noted observantly with a wink as he walked away. She stared at the place he used to stand for a moment, then brought her eyes to her knees, thinking of an apology. 

"Oh hello SQUALL and RINOA!!" Nida screamed from out of sight, letting Quistis know they were here. In a few moments Squall and Rinoa were above Quistis, much to her reluctance. She wanted to apologize, but she didn't know what to say. 

"Hi Quis-" Rinoa was about to greet her but Quistis cut her off as she stood. 

"I'm sorry for acting like a freak to you guys it's just that I've been feeling left out for a long time now what with Zell and Selphie and then You and Squall even though you're not really an item it's just really weird that you two kissed each other!" Quistis exclaimed in one long breath. She was nervous, that was totally obvious. She had never had to apologize so awkwardly, ever... especially to her friends. It had always been the three of them. Rinoa, Selphie and Quistis. They were so close-knit and now it was so much... more. 

"You've been feeling left out!?" Rinoa exclaimed, shocked. "Why?" She asked, placing a hand on Quistis's shoulder as Squall looked on, not knowing what to do. 

"You guys used to tell me everything... now I have to figure things out through nonsensical gossip." Quistis complained. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Rinoa apologized. "But uhh... on that note. That kiss, no one was supposed to know." Rinoa said with a giggle as she blushed tenderly along with Squall who's eyes drifted away uncomfortably. 

"Oh, I'm sorry." Quistis said stupidly with a little giggle. 

"You didn't know... that dirty spying Nida blabbed though. I must destroy him." Rinoa declared as she bounded off, retracing Nida's steps. 

"She's on a rampage today." Squall said with a laugh as he watched her go. 

"Be good to her or I'll have to hurt you." Quistis threatened with a little giggle. 

"Huh!?" Squall exclaimed, pretending he didn't hear that. Quistis only smiled and stepped closer to him. "What?" He asked again. She brought up a hand and pinched his cheek. 

"You're SOOO CUTE!!" Quistis cried as if he was a little puppy. She released her pinch and ran after Rinoa. Squall lightly touched the hit area and winced in pain. 

"Ow" He mumbled.... 

* 

In The Next Chapter:::: The Fortress of Doom's plans are finally under way and it's time for some Rinoa hurting.... But will the plan work at all? It certainly doesn't seem like it is as problems arise and fickle Fujin keeps reworking the plan! Will the plan ever be put into motion? 

Things aren't going so well for 'The Hybrid Rainbows' either. With the deadline of the Summer Festival looming, stress is at an all time high! They haven't even worked out a plot, script, actors or anything yet! How do they expect to do a play!? 

And what of Squall and Rinoa!? Things aren't great there either. Will Squall ever collect the courage to ask Rinoa out or tell her how he feels? And what about Rinoa? Are her flirtatious ways working, or not? Will she have to try another strategy? One of them has to bend eventually, right!?

The Next Chapter:  **What Love Can Teach**

A/n: I updated! Go me! VISIT MY LIVE JOURNAL!! DO IT NOW!! Go to my bio page and click on my web site! It's funny and you can see all the inspiration I get for my stories there! You'll see alot of stuff in there, used in here!! So take a look! It's interesting!! I'M SERIOUS!! 


	7. His Plan, My Plan, Your Plan! Everyone ...

Chapter SEVEN: **His Plan, My Plan, Your Plan! Everyone Has a Plan!**

*****************************

"We have to go about this Rinoa thing very subtly." Xu reminded Fujin as they sat in the Fortress of Doom. 

"How can we go about the utter destruction of Rinoa subtly?" Yuki asked skeptically. 

"Make her 'accidentally' fall down the stairs." Fujin suggested receiving the mental image of Rinoa falling down a mile long staircase. 

"Ummm... lets try not to kill her." Xu suggested as she sat down on the top of a desk. 

"Why not!? That way the world will be rid of her. We'd get an award!" Fujin screamed with joy. 

"I don't think there's an award for killing Rinoa." Seifer told her. 

"We'll make one!" Fujin exclaimed. 

"Why would we make an award for killing Rinoa if we're going to kill her - stop it. Getting off topic." Xu said shaking her head, ridding the nonsensical thoughts from her. "Anyways. We have to come up with a plot!" Xu told them a bit annoyed at the fact they were all going off topic. 

"Right. Focus people, focus!" Seifer demanded slamming his hands down on his desk. "We must think of a plan, and fast. It's blatantly obvious that Squall and Rinoa are beginning to make their moves on each other. It's only a matter of time before they begin to date." Seifer warned strategically. 

"You're right!" Yuki exclaimed, shocked Seifer was acting intelligent. "We have to have someone get between them. Stalk them wherever they go and mess everything up!" She suggested. 

"That will be my job." Fujin said with a high laugh. 

"No. You need to be here to plan the plot, and besides it sort of obvious you want to mess things up between them. We have to have someone who doesn't know them and make it look like an 'accident'." Seifer suggested. Everyone smirked evilly and turned to Xu. 

"Dammit. I knew it." Xu cursed, kicking a chair in frustration. 

"Sorry." Fujin said with fake sympathy. "No time to waist, go go go!" She ordered in a rushed state as her small body pushed Xu out the door and into the hallway. She slammed the door behind her, leaving Xu alone. 

"But I'm the SMART one!" Xu cried in anger. 

"Did anyone just hear that?" Squall asked, looking towards the door inside the 'Hybrid Rainbows'. 

"No. Shut up. Your insane." Zell blurted out hastily. "Anyways, the play. Quistis, do you have any ideas for a script?" Zell asked, turning to her. 

"A few. But I have to run them by with you all." Quistis said, pulling a pad of paper with some writing on it from her pack. 

"Lets hear 'em." Selphie suggested with a bright, excited, smile. 

"Idea one: A powerful President is in great need for a son. He finds that his wife is pregnant and hopes with all his might it is a boy. It is a girl. Frustrated in this finding, he refuses to believe it and gives her the male name, David. He thus proclaims her as a boy. When she comes of age, he places her into a military training camp where she the learns the ways of a fighting, male, soldier. She's returned to the general and is placed as the Captain of the Guards and renowned as the Crown Prince." Quistis finished. "I realize that summary is a bit long but-" 

"OOHHH I REALLY like that idea!" Selphie cheered with a clap of her hands. She looked to Zell for approval. 

"Yes, I do as well." Zell agreed. He looked to Rinoa. She nodded and she looked to Squall and he agreed as well. 

"Then it's settled!" Selphie cheered. 

"We'll do Quistis's idea one!" He proclaimed with a bright smile and thumbs up. 

"Wait, but what about the rest of her ideas?" Rinoa asked, wanting to give all of Quistis's hard time special attention. 

"You don't need to know those..." Quistis mumbled. She looked down to her paper and saw the little images she drew instead of the ideas. For Idea two, it showed Quistis strangling Zell saying 'Stop calling my smart girl!'. For Idea three it showed a chicken fighting a tiny hippopotamus. 

"Yes we do!" Rinoa insisted. 

"Shut up! No you don't!" Quistis seethed, looking quite evil and demonic. Rinoa cowered back into her seat. 

"What's the title?" Selphie asked, ignoring the other ideas completely. 

"I don't know." Quistis said with a shrug. 

"How about... Squall's Pregnant with Penguins?" Selphie suggested. Quistis gave Selphie a blank stare then shook her head solemnly. Squall rose up from behind Selphie, metal chair in hand. He smashed it across her head. 

"Bitch." He mumbled as he stalked back to his seat. 

"No one can take a joke around here." Selphie mumbled as she rubbed her head. 

"Stop it!" Zell demanded, slamming a make shift gavel (a metal rod jabbed into a block of wood) down onto the table. "We must focus. The Summer Festival is in ONE week!" Zell screamed, looking to everyone. "We need to get our act together." Zell said, his eyes narrowing. 

"Agreed." Rinoa said with a nod. Everyone else nodded, showing their commitment. 

"Where and when is this play taking place?" Nida asked, taking out his sketch book, already starting. 

"I'll help you with that. I'll work on the script at home." Quistis said with a smile as she walked to where Nida was sitting. 

"What should we do?" Rinoa asked, pointing to Selphie, Squall and her. 

"Since the four of us are actors, we can divide up the roles... or the roles we know of so far." Zell mumbled. 

"I wanna be the main chick!" Rinoa and Selphie exclaimed at the same time. They shot each other looks of distaste. 

"We'll be forced to settle this through a nice, decent, cat fight." Zell said with an evil smirk has looked to Squall. He laughed evilly. 

"Oh shut up, both of you." Selphie commanded. 

"We could switch half way through." Rinoa suggested. Selphie smiled in delight and they gave each other high fives. 

"Dammit." Zell cursed. 

Up on the roof top, Raijin stood looking out over the expansive land known as Balamb. 

'It's so pretty up here.' Raijin thought contentedly. 'So boring though.' He thought depressingly as he slumped against the railing. His chin rested delicately on the cold, metallic, bar. 'Everyone's gone, doing their own thing. What am I doing? Nothing, nothing at all. Maybe I should join Fujin's freak fest, but she's just so... yeah. Don't think about it. Maybe I could join Rinoa's club. They're probably already long underway on their project.' He turned around with a heavy sigh and closed eyes. 

"Hey." A soft voice greeted. He opened his eyes curiously and found it was Xu. The wind played with her uniform's skirt and tugged at her hair gently. 

"Hey Xu." Raijin greeted, trying to sound uninterested. 

"What are you doing up here?" She asked, walking up to him. 

"Nothing at all. You?" He asked as she looked out at the island of Balamb next to him. 

"You sound so suspicious. It sounds like you're trying to cover something." Xu noted with a giggle. 

"Well, I'm not." Raijin insisted as he sat down, his back against the railing. 

"I know you aren't. Just a joke." She said. "But what am I doing up here? Trying to escape Fujin's fickleness and bossiness." She told him. "Don't tell her that!" Xu pleaded, realizing what she had just admitted. 

"I won't. That's exactly the reason I wouldn't join her 'club." He said. 

"I shouldn't have joined. Stupid me. I should know by now that Fujin's totally insane." Xu confessed with a laugh. 

"I'm surprised I'm still her friend." Raijin said with a low laugh. "I'm afraid she'll hurt me if I leave her though... but I'm beginning to slowly move from her." He said. 

"How long have you guys been friends for?" Xu asked, curious. 

"No idea, but a LONG time." He said with a smile. 

"That's cool. I've known her for about two years... and you about one, yes?" She asked, just making sure. 

"Basically." He agreed. 

"Feels like such a short time." She said with a heavy sigh. There was a bit of silence until Raijin turned to her. 

"I was lonely..." He stated. 

* 

Quistis sat at her computer, typing away the script as fast as she could so everyone could have it by the next day. Her glasses were low on her nose and her eyes hastily followed the text appearing on the screen. She paused for a moment and pulled her hands away from the keyboard. She sighed heavily and looked at how many pages she had just typed in the past 20 minutes, 8. She smiled with satisfaction. She cracked her knuckles and sighed in ecstasy. She leaned back against her chair and let her head hang back, her hair hanging placidly. She shut her eyes as they burned like the fire of a thousand suns. But before she could rest much, the phone rang. She bent forward with rush and snatched the phone. 

"Hello?" She asked coldly, expecting it to be Zell asking how far along she was. "Oh! Hey! I'm sorry. Didn't know it was you." She confessed, embarrassed. She giggled at a comment the person made. "Always the joker. You've never changed. I'm not saying that's bad." She said hastily. "I liked your hair yesterday. Very nice, very nice. Personally, I don't care what kind of gel you use." She confessed. A loud gasp could be heard from the phone. Quistis laughed at another comment the person made. "Okay then, bye bye. See you tomorrow." Quistis said, and she hung up. 

She sat there for a moment and giggled to herself.... 

* 

"Hey Squall!" Rinoa greeted in the morning as she walked onto the campus. 

"Why weren't you on the bus?" He asked, annoyed. 

"I woke up late. My mom had to drop me off." She admitted with a little giggle. "Anyways, have you seen Quistis's script yet? She emailed it to me last night, it's so good!" She raved with a giddy smile. 

"Really? Awesome!" Squall cheered. "We might actually have a chance at winning! I didn't think we were at first 'cause well, we do kinda suck." He admitted. Rinoa just stared past him and shook her head solemnly. He turned his head to find Selphie. 

"We suck!?" Selphie screamed. "You big piece of shit! I'll kill you." Selphie screamed. She lunged at Squall and he deflected her with a swipe of his hand. 

"Sorry. I didn't mean to insult you." He apologized sheepishly. 

"Sure you didn't." Selphie said maliciously with a sour face. "But seriously Squall, can I talk to you?" She asked. 

"Uhhh... sure." He agreed, unsure. The two walked away leaving Rinoa to watch from a distance. 

"So, tonight, right?" She asked excitedly. 

"Excuse me?" Squall asked. 

"Are you gonna ask her out?" She asked, her eyes huge and bold, waiting for the answer she wanted to hear. 

"Who's 'her'?" He asked. She smacked him across the head. 

"Rinoa, you dork!" She cried, annoyed. 

"I'm not gonna ask Rinoa out!!" He cried far to loudly, piquing Rinoa's attention. 

"Shut up! Why not?" She asked. "Everyone knows you like her." She whispered to him. 

"They do?" He asked, a bit shocked at these findings. 

"Duh. It's so obvious. Plus there's this rumor going around school that you kissed her." She said with a little giggle. 

"WHAT!?!!?" Squall screamed, turning everyone's attention to him. 

"Shut up or I'll make sure you never have children again!!" She whispered venomously. He shut up. "So are you?" She asked, reverting back to her original question. 

"I don't know. Leave me alone." Squall demanded, running away. Selphie cursed. She had scared him off. 

On the roof top, alone, Squall thought as he stared down upon the people. He could see Rinoa clearly. She was talking with Selphie and he smirked as an idea came to mind. An idea that would work, that would succeed, that would be perfect. He was going to ask Rinoa out. 

Squall entered the Hybrid Rainbow's room and found Rinoa and Selphie giggling like idiots and jumping around the room as Zell, Nida and Irvine were playing cards. He immediately walked to Irvine. 

"You found us." Squall noted. 

"Aren't you proud of me?" He asked with a laugh as he placed a card down onto the table. 

"Quite." He said with a laugh. 

"SQUALL!!!" Rinoa screamed from behind him. "Dance with me! Dance to the beat of the music in your heart!" She said with a laugh. Selphie doubled over in laughter. 

"YOU SAID 'BEAT'!!" She screamed with a laughter as she held her stomach. She collapsed to the ground and turned red from laughing so hard. Rinoa began to lead Squall around the room. Squall was dragging his feet and attempting to pull away. 

"Don't you want to dance with me, Squall!?" Rinoa screamed. She pushed him away and backed up a bit and she tripped over a chair. She began to laugh hysterically. "Hey Selphie!" She cried. "Pumpernickel!" She cried. They both began to break down with laughter. 

"To much sugar." Zell commented, not looking up. 

"Did you supply them?" Squall asked, accusingly. 

"Didn't even see them all day. Couldn't have." He observed, not paying much attention. 

"Hello everyone." Quistis greeted from the door way. She had a series of stapled papers in her hand. She looked to everyone and they looked back. Rinoa and Selphie were completely still, surprise surprise. "What?" Quistis asked, giving them all an odd face. "Is there something on my face?" She asked, rubbing her face. They all turned back to what they were doing, as if nothing ever happened. "So weird..." Quistis commented. 

"Hey Squall!" Rinoa called. He turned to her and she came galloping up to him. 

"What?" He asked, expecting something important. 

"Alalala-Smack it!!" She yelled, and smacked his ass. She doubled over in laughter, as with Selphie. Squall just stared at her blank faced. His face was beet red. Irvine, Nida and Zell snickered from behind him. Squall turned to them hesitantly and they laughed all the more harder as they saw his face. 

Xu stood outside room 106, straightening out her uniform, ready for her first mission. 'Alright Xu, think destructive and mean thoughts. Think like Fujin.' She told herself. She took a deep breath and tossed the door open. She found Rinoa bouncing around the room with Selphie, Squall blushing and Irvine, Nida and Zell laughing. 'Dammit! What did I miss? Shit.' Xu cursed silently. 

"Hi everyone!" She began, calling everyone's attention. 

"Xu. I've missed you so much!" Selphie screamed as she hugged her. "Where have you been!? Have you been doing it with Billy!?" Selphie gasped. 

"Did you use protection!?" Rinoa asked, truly concerned. "No! You whore!" She said. Selphie turned to her and they began to play patty cake. "Oh my god Selphie! You're so good at this!" Rinoa complimented. 

"Thanks! I can chase my tail to!" Selphie screamed with delight. She began to twirl around in circles, chasing and invisible tail until she fell down. She began to laugh hysterically on the ground and Rinoa fell down, laughing, with her. 

"I'm uhh... gonna leave now." Xu said with a nervous smile as she backed away from the scene and out the door. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it. She sighed heavily. "Oh my god... this is going to be to tough." She wheezed and walked back into the Fortress of Doom..... 

******* 

A/n: Sorry I haven't written in awhile... school is tough... tee hee. Read my live journal... go to my bio thingy and click on my website. Stuff from there will be used in upcoming chapters. Check it out. 


	8. Fly Me To The Moon

Notice there was no chapter preview? Know why? Course you don't... Something big is gonna happen in this chapter... it could change the fate of humanity... okay maybe not, but something big!

This chapter will be far more serious than past chapters... But humorous moments will take place

****************

Rinoa walked down the hall slowly after school, trying to comprehend what her imagination had just conjured up. Her eyes were filled with dreary spacey ness that held no focus. Her expression was stoic. 

Her thoughts could have been racing ahead of current times, but she just couldn't help herself. Dating Squall. It was like some bizarre fantasy. She couldn't help but want to waver this thinking off as a silly crush. A childish, elementary school, 'like like' situation. Did she even like him? What the hell is like anyways?

How could she ever have a crush on anyone after meeting them less than a week ago. Maybe she loved him. Nonsense. Insanity. Love? Love takes months, years, lifetimes to fully understand let alone achieve. But how she wanted it... to feel that passion when someone utters the words 'I love you'. To take their hand in yours. To be together forever. 

"Wow..." Rinoa muttered. "I think to much during school hours." She noted, looking down at the hall she had just walked through...

**Chapter EIGHT: Fly Me To The Moon**

'It'll be quick and simple...' Squall planned as he paced along the roof, which was currently vacant. '"Hey Rin, you wanna do something on Saturday?"... NO! Saturday? What the hell? Friday is the time... plus I shouldn't call her Rin. Wait... you're thinking far to strategically. Love may be a battlefield, but it doesn't need complicated strategies... just go in, guns blazing. That's a poor example. Who cares? Going on a tangent, stop it.' Squall thought refocusing himself. 

He looked over the side of the building to the ground below and found Rinoa chatting with Quistis and Selphie. He needed her to be alone, it was far to awkward for everyone to know. 

'I'm gonna do it. I swear.' He stated, clenching his fist. "No squall, no cloud shall hinder me." He proclaimed dramatically. 

"Excuse me?" A voice behind him asked curiously. Squall whirled around and came face to face with Nida. 

"Oh sorry... I'm just a little on edge." Squall said with a little laugh. He tried to brush past Nida, but he caught Squall's arm roughly. 

"We're all waiting for your next big move. The audience awaits the next line. The spot lights watching you. Don't mess up. Don't stress. An actor is based solely on the quality of his portrayal of one thing to the next." Nida reminded cryptically. Squall gave him a blank stare, trying to unravel the tapestry of words he had just received. Nida let go and Squall moved on. 

Squall walked down the steps, wondering just what Nida had said to him. Was he saying that he was the actor? Who was he acting for? For his friends? He didn't have to act for anyone... did he? Was he going to need to? 

Before his thoughts could venture much further he spotted Rinoa at her locker putting her books away, alone. 

'Cha-ching.' Squall thought with success. He strode up to her and stood next to her. This caught her attention and she looked to him with a smile. 

"Hey Squall." She greeted quite lamely. 

"Hey Rin." He began, building courage for his next sentence. 'C'mon... this is your big chance.' He thought working himself up. He opened his mouth to speak, but another voice cut him off. 

"OH MY!!" A voice hollered. It was Xu's. Squall mentally cursed and rolled his eyes with an evil grimace. He turned to her with a sour face. Xu ignored it. "If it isn't Squall and Rinoa! Just the people I wanted to talk to. So? How's your little festival thing coming along?" She asked, far to cheery to be normal. 

"Fine thanks." Squall said with a vicious tone in his voice, ready to punch Xu. 

"Yeah. We're working really hard. We're doing a play so hopefully you'll come to see it." Rinoa said with a hopeful grin. 

"I will and might I - " Xu was about to continue until Squall's rude voice cut her off. 

"HEY!! Don't you have someone where to be? Like hell or something?" Squall asked as he began to push her away. 

"Excuse me?" Xu asked flabbergasted. 

"Get lost!" Squall whispered venomously into her ear as he pushed her out of the school. 

"Oh my gosh! Look at the time! I gotta get going, bye Squall!" Rinoa said as she walked for the double doors to the entrance of the school. 

"I won't be misdirected that easily, Squall." Xu said with determination as she marched up the steps towards the doors when suddenly they came crashing into her, hitting her hard in the face. "OW!!! FUCK!!!" She screamed loudly as she held her bleeding nose. 

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry Xu." Rinoa apologized as she held Xu's back, trying to support her in anyway. 

"It's all right." She lied. 

"mwhahaha..." Squall whispered evilly, trotting down the steps, past them. Xu growled, annoyed. Her plans were going all hay-wire because of Squall. Damn him! 

Rinoa lay down in her bed in her pajamas, her hands behind her head, thinking. She couldn't stop thinking about him... what if he did ask the question? She pondered into the silence and blackness of the room around her. As expected, received no answer. 

'What should I say?' She asked herself as she turned to her side, bringing her legs to her chest. 'He's so cute... how could I say no? The way he looks at me. Those cute eyes, that cute smile that makes me wanna give him a big hug. So adorable. Should I say yes? What if he really doesn't ask me and all my speculation was just totally random tangent. What will others think if we start dating? They probably don't want us together... it be so awkward I guess.' She thought logically. Her mind went blank for a second as she closed her eyes for a quick rest. She sighed, and opened her eyes once more revealing the darkness of her room. It was darker than she remembered. Her eye's darted around her room, afraid of some lurking beast/criminal/rapist. She slowly sat up, her posture stiffening, breathing becoming less rhythmic and her muscles tightening. She gulped, and reached for the metal baseball bat under her bed, ready to strike. Just as she could feel the cool metal of the bat, her mobile rang. She freaked out and screamed, ripping the bat from its original position and posing it in front of her, ready to beat the living shit out of whatever. She quickly recognized the sound and reached for the phone on her night stand. 

"Hello?" She began, loosening up a bit. She looked at the clock and found the time to be 10:30 pm. An odd time for a phone call. 

"Hi." Squall began, his voice steady while his whole body trembled. 

"Oh hey Squall. Do you know what time it is?" She asked, slightly agitated. 

"Oh crap! I'm so sorry! I'll call tomorrow." He hastily said, ready to hang up. 

"Wait wait wait." Her voice cutting through his thoughts like a thick knife. "You've got my attention. Lets continue." She insisted with a tiny giggle. 

Squall's face melted with the harmonic sound of the giggle. His eye's drooped, his smile grew enormous and his overall body deceased its tense state and relaxed with pure joy. 

"I ummm... I." He said in a daze. 

"Yes?" Rinoa beckoned. 

"Oh!" Squall exclaimed, snapping from his trance. 'Okay... here it goes Squall...' 

"I called to ask if you wanna go to a movie and get some dinner afterwards." He said, steadily, confidently and forthrightly. 

"Sure." She answered, quite plainly. 

'What? Excuse me?' Squall thought, flabbergasted. 

"Awesome." He exclaimed with a bright smile. Rinoa laughed, surprised at such excitement. 

"Okay. Well I better go... It's sort of late. Have to get to bed." She explained with a smooth, cool voice. Squall just mumbled something in his excitement. "Bye." She said and hung up. 

'You're such a dork Squall... you were a stuttering mess while she was quiet, calm and in control of herself.' He thought, annoyed at himself. 

"Why am I critiquing myself!? I GOT A DATE WITH RINOA!!" He shrieked with utter joy. 

"A daughter!?" Zell exclaimed from the front of the Hybrid Rainbow's Fortress (the head of the classroom). The group was paracticing for their big play which was supposed to be put on next week. A one time showing. 

"I'm sorry master." Irvine apologized, bowing apologetically, holding his script and reading it out of the corner of his eye. Irvine had managed to receive a part even this late in the game through a lot of persuading and alot of candy buying for Selphie. 

"Sorry!? YOU'RE sorry!? I should be the one sorry one! I have received a daughter! A DAUGHTER!!! Of all the things to happen! I'd rather soon be dead than have this shame upon my family, career, reputation and most of all the country's!" Zell exclaimed with great gestures and over the top acting. 

"I heard screaming! Goodness what is happening!?" Selphie, as the maid, exclaimed. She as well was holding her script. 

"This is male business. You, however... go tell my wife I'm very displeased with her! Tell her she shall meet with me immediately she is out of that dammed room!" Zell barked, enraged, stomping his feet. Selphie nodded and ran off. 

"Telling good women off are we now, Lord Kanto?" Squall asked cockily as he played the part of a Count. 

"Oh... it's you, Count Cropett. I should have expected you showing up on such an occasion. You're most likely the cause of this day's unfortunate circumstance." Zell heaved with disgust. 

"Count your blessings you old twit. At least you have a child to raise." Squall answered craftily he walked to Zell and stage-whispered: "You can always play the little filth off as a boy, you know?" He said, an evil grin materializing. Zell gave a totally perplexed look, then his thoughts quickly snapped into place and he smirked. 

"Let me go check on the daughter of mine..." Zell said casually as he left. Irvine gave Squall and odd look as he had not heard what he had told Zell. 

"I'm most glad you were able to change Lord Kanto's mind!" Irvine exclaimed as he bowed his head. He stood and ran off. 

"Idiots." Squall said with a laugh and walked off. 

"Hey that was good!" Quistis congradulated. 

"Quite." Nida agreed. 

"Now... just memorize all of your lines by Monday." Quistis instructed as she slipped her glasses back on and looked at their schedule. 

"Monday!!" Rinoa cried, flabbergasted. Her jaw dropped and her eyes watered as realization that her entire weekend was destroyed. 

"Duh! We have to work on other things besides just the acting..." She pointed out, as if she was stating the obvious. No one else had even thought of the other things, except Nida with the backgrounds. 

"Like what, exactly?" Squall asked, questioning Quistis's knowledge. 

"Let's see... light positioning, voice projection, blocking, microphone positions, the stage itself, costumes, advertising, sponsors, budget, and the fact that the actors must memorize the rest of their lines is a given." Quistis said, making it seem as if it was as plain as day. 

"There goes my weekend." Rinoa complained as she squatted down, placing her head in her hands. 

'There goes our Friday.' Squall complained to himself, secretly blaming Quistis for all his problems. 

"So we're not going to the movies on Friday everyone?" Rinoa asked, looking up to everyone. 

'Huh!?' Squall mentally exclaimed. 'But... but... NO!! AGGHH!! Stupid Squall!' He screamed, cursing himself over and over. 

"Movie? What movie?" Selphie asked, slightly hurt and offended no one had told her. 

"Squall told me about it." Rinoa said, throwing a curious glance to Squall. 

"Ahehehe..." Squall giggled after a moment of silence. 

"Squall..." Selphie began, glaring. "Can I talk to you outside?" She said, forcefully grabbing his collar and dragging him out the door. 

"PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!" Squall screamed as he sank into the wall outside. 

"I won't. Now shut up." Selphie demanded. "You asked Rinny out, didn't you?" She asked. 

"Maybe..." Squall confessed, blushing profusely. 

"AHA!!" Selphie screamed with joy as she grabbed his hands and began to jump up and down in a giddy happiness. "I can't believe YOU actually did it! I never thought you would! I was all ready to give you a shove in the right direction." She told him. 

"Thanks for the concern. But, I did it. Even though it failed miserably and she didn't even realize it was a date in the first place." Squall mused. 

"True. But that's okay. It's the thought that counts." Selphie insisted. 

'Right... the thought counts...' Squall thought in a melancholy fashion as he down cast his eyes from hers.... 

The next day... Squall and Rinoa were walking into their math room just as the bell rang. 

"Cha-Ching!" Rinoa said with confidence as she took her seat next to Squall. 

"Hello class!" The teacher greeted, happily. "Today, you're being assigned a project!" She said with enthusiasm. A collective groan sounded from the class. "Shut up. It'll be better than what you're thinking, I'm sure." She assured as she eyed them all. She stepped to the head of classroom and cleared her throat. "You are to do ONE equation from the lesson we learned yesterday, explaining what you're doing as you're doing it." She said. The class looked at each other. This 'project' would be insanely easy. "The catch is... it must be eye catching. You can't just simply do it on a piece of paper, oh no. Expand your mind beyond paper, like poster board, slide show presentation with the computer. Something of the sort. Just no sheets of paper, is that clear?" She looked to each of her students, studying their looks of relaxation. "This project is due tomorrow." She finished quickly. 

"TOMORROW!?!?" Someone screamed in class, standing up and knocking over their chair in the process. 

"Tomorrow." The teacher repeated. "You can do it with a partner. I'll give you the whole class period now to decide your partner and plan your project." She finished and sat down. As she turned her back the whole class flipped her off. Everyone immediately began to clamber and move about, looking for a partner. Squall instantly turned around and looked at Rinoa. She nodded, she knew what he wanted. 

"Okay. I got an idea for this thing." Rinoa began clasping her hands on her desk. Squall turned around and straddled his chair so he could face her. We could get a large poster board and paint it on. And we could have this cute little animal on the sides saying how we did it." She suggested. 

"That sounds perfect because I don't have any ideas." Squall laughed. 

"Okay then, wanna come over to my house after school?" She asked. Squall nodded. 

"Sounds good." He agreed. 

"Hmmm... I don't really wanna work on the project right now." Rinoa commented as she hung her head, letting her hair rest against the cool desk. 

"We don't have to work on it now. Save it for your house." Squall suggested, leaning closer to Rinoa. She whipped her head up causing her hair to whip Squall's face harshly. "OW!" Squall cried as he held his face. 

"Oh! Oh my gosh! Sorry!" She apologized hastily as she gingerly took his head in her hands. Squall, surprised by the touch, let his hands drop slowly and steadily from his head. He stared into her caring and concerned eyes and became lost in a world of thin darkness... 

************** 

In The Next Chapter:::: 

~Squall's request for a date may have not worked but he's in for a surprise when he heads to Rinoa's house for the project... a little mess can do wonders... 

~With the Hybrid Rainbows a mile behind schedule their morals plummet and Selphie begins to wonder of they'll ever even end up doing the play after all that hard work!!! 

~ Fujin takes her evil schemes into her own hands and casts out her troop of followers... now, with no where to go they begin to wonder just what to do next.... 

A/n: Sorry it took me so long to finish this... school is a bitch. I hate it... yuck. Then I had problems with my bf... but they're fine now. I'll HOPEFULLY get a chapter out by tuesday because we have a 4 day weekend (cha ching) 

Ta Ta La Ya'll!!! 

~ x20 Vision 


End file.
